Van Der Linde Savior
by VanDerLinde RDR2
Summary: Dutch Van Der Linde, and Arthur Morgan, John Marston... Well, they were real historical characters, Dutch and Arthur being Celina Knoll's favorite Wild West outlaws. Red Dead Redemption? Well, It told the true story of their lives. What will happen when Celina finds herself thrown back in time and into the hands of the Van Der Linde gang? (Spoilers of RDR and RDR2)
1. Chapter 1

"It was over one hundred years ago, Celina!" Corey laughed, "There's no reason to be mourning their deaths. I think you need to pack up the disks and send them off to good-will or something."

"Or," Celina held up her finger, signaling an idea although her friend couldn't see her through the phone, "Or I can forget about the first RDR and play Red Dead Redemption two again."

She could practically hear her best friend, Corey roll his eyes, "You got through the second game in a week, it's a massive game, that's not ok."

It was her turn to roll her eyes as she chewed absentmindedly on her fingernail, "I was on vacation, what else was I supposed to do?"

There was a moment of silence, "Go out with friends and enjoy your life?"

"Eh," Celina huffed, "I do that enough, plus, I had to see how Dutch used to be and I just love Arthur."

"They're dead, Celi,"

"Shut up." Her bottom lip stuck out in a childish pout. "I'm not talking to you anymore." A smile made it's way onto her face, she was twenty-three years old, it's not like she was truly prepared to be that petty.

There was a chuckle from the other end of the line, "You just think that Dutch is sexy."

"Well, yea," she rolled her eyes, "And Arthur."

Corey laughed, "Dutch is pretty much in sane."

She shrugged, staring at the tv and moving to grab RDR2, "He wasn't always like that."

"I know..." There was silence on Corey's end for a moment, "Are you gonna get your cute butt over here? Or are you going to gush over them and forget to come to the birthday party I have scheduled for you innn..." His voice trailed off, "Thirty minutes."

Celina laughed, "I'll be there in five." Without saying goodbye she hung up the phone, giving up on playing the latest game for the time being. She stood up from her chair and leaned back, cracking her back before heading to the restroom.

She used to have a crush on Corey, that was, until he came out as gay, then any point in having the crush of course was forced to disappear. Other than him, all of the guys she wished she could have had been dead and gone for about one hundred years. It sucked, living in 2018, but, it was what it was. Still, there was nothing like a handsome cowboy or classy man.

She was already dressed for her twenty-third birthday party and really, having a party didn't matter to her. It really seemed like it was more for her friends. Not that she would ever tell them that.

Celina studied herself in the mirror for a moment, running her fingers through her long black hair which hung down just past her boobs. Her make-up was minimal but perfect, perfectly accenting her blue eyes. She applied some lip gloss hastily and then she was out the door and making her way down the hall of her apartment.

After a short walk down the hall to Corey's place, Celina pushed open the door dramatically, "I'm here, bitches!" Only, no one was there, the blue-eyed girl rolled her eyes for what felt like the twentieth time that day and made her way further into the room, "You guys, you're seriously hiding from me? This is so immature, not like it's a surprise party, punks." Her brows furrowed when no one came out of their hiding places, "Guys?"

"This is a robbery, don't do anything stupid and we won't do anything unkind." The lights were flicked off then, leaving the room in darkness. She could hear footsteps approaching her, spurs rattling with each step. "Ok," she laughed, "Which one of you are pretending to be Bill Williamson? Because you got the wrong character."

"Damn it, Sean," The lights flicked on to reveal Sean, her best friend Courtney's boyfriend dressed in western attire, standing right beside her. "I told you that she wasn't into Bill."

Sean ducked his head a bit, somewhat disappointed, his cowboy hat falling off with the movement, making Celina snicker and pat his shoulder, "I appreciate you trying."

She looked around the room, almost busting a gut with laughter, "You guys!" To her utter amusement, everyone in the room was wearing stick-on mustaches and cowboy hats, "D-don't you guys think this is a bit much?"

They all laughed, Clark running his hands through his thick, brown hair and then rubbing at his fake moustache, "Are you saying our efforts are going unappreciated?" He challenged her, a humorous look in his brown eyes.

Celina shook her head and looked over to Courtney and Corey, watching as Courtney picked at her own stick on mustache. The blonde suddenly perked up, looking at the three guys in the room, "Why don't we start the night with gifts?"

A look of excitement passed through the four of them which did not go unnoticed. Celina wondered what they had done for her as far as gifts- not that that truly mattered. However, she would be lying if she claimed that their shared look hadn't sparked her interest. She smiled at them, "What did you guys do? I hope you didn't spend a lot on me."

"Please, Celina, Clark is rich. I would be offended if he didn't get me something nice." Corey snickered, looking at the football player. "You got her something nice, didn't you Clark?"

Clark swallowed almost nervously and looked to the other three who were obviously in on the surprise, "It is a gift from the four of us. I'm just hoping you'll like it."

"I'm sure I'd like anything you guys got for my." Excitement began to fill her voice, "Now what is it?"

Sean sucked in a sharp breath, "It's something none of us are supposed to have."

Celina's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "What did you guys get me or do? This Red Dead Redemption theme is cool, but you didn't rob a bank or something, did you?"

Her four friends laughed, "Well, no, not exactly." Clark scratched his head. "You see, I have money, and I know people. I, err..."

She felt her pulse begin to quicken and her eyes widened, "What did you guys do?"

"It was Courtney's idea." Sean pointed to his girlfriend accusing.

"Ok?" Celina watched as Corey went into his bedroom and quickly returned with a kind of small wooden box, "This is to let you know how much we all love you." He walked over to the couch and set the box on the coffee table instead of handing it to her, smiling at the confused look on her face, "You're going to want to sit down for this."

Celina almost cautiously walked over to the couch and sat down, staring at the box intently as everyone else sat down. "Say," she looked around at everyone, "This isn't a joke right? Nothing's going to pop out and scare the crap outta me?"

They all shook their heads, Clark chuckling, "I hope to God not.."

With a deep, calming breath, Celina opened the box, the object creaking loudly as the lid was lifted backwards on its hinge. When she saw what was inside, her heart felt like it had stopped... It was something that she recognized all too well... "No.." She gasped, shaking her head as she carefully picked up the tarnished object, "There's no way."

Her friends stared at her, nervous looks on their faces although each of them held hope that she would believe it was what it was and not by any means, a replica. At least, it hadn't been advertised to any of them as a replica.

"It's... It's his..." Celina turned the old pocketwatch over in her hand, studying every detail of it, it looked like it had stopped ticking around a hundred years ago. "This-" Celina swallowed, "This belongs in a museum... how, why? If..."

The group was nearly silent, they had gotten away with what they had done, but would Celina accept it? They thought she would but with the look on her face they each started to think perhaps they had misjudged her. It was Clark who spoke up again, "We saw it and knew you'd love it. I know it's a lot and no real reason to go all out like this but... we wanted to. We thought we could do it, and it was exciting, plus a plus for you."

Her voice almost shook with a mixture of emotions, "How did you obtain this?"

"Like I said, I know a lot of people and I have money. You'd be surprised what people are willing to do for money."

"So you guys thought it was ok to have this stolen."

Courtney chewed on her bottom lip, "Don't you like it? We know how you feel about theft but we thought considering what it is-"

"-Dutch's pocketwatch.. I know what it is. I'd recognize it anywhere." She licked her lips, staring at the precious object and feeling emotionally torn. "But you still did this knowing how I feel about theft."

"But why are you so against it? You love the Van Der Linde gang and they're a bunch of thieves." It was Sean who spoke, obviously being the one of the group who didn't 'know'.

Tears pricked at Celina's eyes and she shook her head, she had told the other three but never Sean. Knowing Sean, he would try to make her feel better and she didn't need that. "But thanks you guys," a small genuine simile graced her lips, "I know you didn't steal it yourself and I appreciate this," She clutched it tightly in her right hand, "I love it. But I can't imagine how much this cost you nor the drive to do it."

Clark laughed and stated what may have been his reason bluntly, "We needed some excitement." He scratched his fake moustache, "But, there should be sometging else in there too."

Celina dug through the wood shavings until she felt another cold, hard metal object. She laughed with joy as she pulled it out, "A flask of his, I assume?" She tilted it and studied the equally tarnished item in appreciation. Never saw this before but I'll believe it."

The night had went faster than expected, Celina being moderately drunk by the time she returned to her apartment. She was tired but she wanted to get at least started with her second play-through of RDR2.

Carefully she popped the disk into her XBox One and sat on the edge of her chair as her favorite story in history began.

It was the opening scene, right before Arthur was volunteered to go and help look for John in the snowstorm when Celina dared to drink from the tarnished flask she assumed was Dutch's. She had refused to do so at the party, despite the fact Corey had filled it for her... She just, didn't think it was clean enough to drink from, now, she was willing to say 'screw it' and take her chances with the taste that would invade her mouth.

Putting the flask to her lips, she tipped her head back and took a swig, forcing the liquid down when she realized how badly the tarnished flask ruined the drink.

That, was about when the weird things began to happen, the tv screen began to break up the picture terribly, the frame rattling, making Celina rush to eject the disc from the Xbox. Only when it opened, the disk was gone.

At the sound of a loud winding sound that filled the room, she looked to where she had set Dutch's pocketwatch on the tv stand to see the hands on it winding backwards at an incredibly rapid pace.

Despite herself, Celina grabbed the pocketwatch and stared down at the hands in horror as the hands moved faster and impossibly faster. With the object still clutched in her hands, she watch in disbelief as everything her surrounding turned purely white.

...

There's the first chapter, let me know if I should continue this story please. I love Arthur and Dutch but haven't finished RDR2. I also don't know if anyone else has the hots for them like I do. But feedback would be appreciated. There will be spoilers in this and I will write as I continue to play. Currently at the 35%- ish mark.

This will be an Arthur Morgan/ OC / Dutch Van Der Linde story since I just love them both so much!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own RDR or anythimg associated with it.


	2. Chapter 2

She was wet and chilled to the bone, that's the first thing Celina noticed upon coming to her senses. She tried to huddle into herself in attempt to trap any warmth she could find but instead had a fluffy cold cushion pushed harder against herself. She opened her eyes, not able to understand with them closed what exactly was going on.

White- that's what she saw from where she laid in the snow, shivering. Snow? It was the middle of July, that was the last thing that should be covering the ground. Why she was laying on the ground? She hadn't the slightest idea.

Celina forced herself to her feet, coming to stand at her full height of 5' 2" and wrapped her arms around her torso as her teeth chartered violently. Taking in her surroundings made her blink twice, not quite trusting the sight before her.

From where she was standing, Celina found herself surrounded by rickety log cabins. They looked old, abandoned, whoever owned the land hadn't been there in a while to say the least. Where she was, she didn't have a clue and felt stupid to even think her surroundings looked like the cabins the Van Der Linde gang stayed at in the beginning of Red Dead Redemption 2.

She shook her head, either she was dreaming or her friends had done something else completely ridiculous and for no reason. She scanned her surroundings for them but seeing no footprints in the snow, sighed and headed into the nearest cabin.

She was dreaming, mustive fallen asleep before RDR2 got through the opening scene. She smiled with excitement as she sat on the bed and pulled am abandoned blanket over her to try to fight the chilling cold. What a dream this was going to be, quite possibly the best one yet.

Celina snuggled down in the blanket, perhaps before she woke up she could experience some sexy times with Dutch... or Arthur, though both of them would be nice. She laughed, this was a dream she wouldn't ever want to wake up from. With her luck however, she just knew she would wake up at the best part.

That's when the door opened and a cold gust of wind bust through, the cabin was illuminated by a lanterns light. The light of a lantern held by none other than Hosea.

The older man gave a sigh of relief when upon first glance the room seemed to be empty, and then it happened, his light landed on her and his eyes widen in surprise as he watched her slowly sit up in bed, "I'm very sorry miss." His tone was polite and sincere, "I certainly didn't intend to disturb you. My friends and I, well..." he shifted his weight, "We're in a rather bad predicament."

Celina smiled gently at Hosea, she always liked the older man and she felt as if she would forever be devastated by his fate. Her teeth continued to chatter even as she attempted to speak, "I think I've gotten myself into quite the predicament as well."

His brow furrowed as he took a step forward, "Are you alone dear?"

She nodded slowly, thinking the dream was seeking all the more surreal by the moment, "I believe so."

"You believe so? Have you been taken against your will? How don't you-"

Both of their attention turned to Bill Williamson as he entered the cabin followed by Dutch. Based on her memory of the scene, Celina concluded the rest of the gang was right outside.

"The area is deserted, how does it look in here?" It was Bill's voice which made Hosea turn around.

"Not completely empty." Hosea gestured to Celina who forced herself from the slight warmth of the bed, "Seems this poor girl was out here alone before we came along."

Bill studied her with narrowed suspicious eyes, "How do we know this isn't another set up?"

"How could it be another set up, Bill? There's no way in Hell anyone has followed us through this storm. Let alone predicted we'd arrive here." Dutch moved into the cabin, holding his hand up to keep the rest of the gang from entering just yet. He made his way over to Celina slowly, a gentle look upon his face and held his hands up showing he meant no harm before getting too close to her, "Miss, I've got to say, you're shaking like a leaf, my friends will bring in some blankets and we'll get you nice and warmed up, alright? I'm Dutch by the way, Dutch Van Der Linde."

Celina bit her lip almost nervously, thinking her situation really didn't seem like too much of a dream. Discretely, she pinched her back as hard as she could while pretending to scratch it. When she did not wake, she looked around frantically, panic beginning to sink in, something was wrong, very wrong. "I'm-" she continued to survey her surroundings, not quite knowing what to say with the situation she found at hand.

"Well Hosea, look at her clothes." Dutch's brows knit together in confusion and Hosea stepped forwards, both of their mouths downturned in thought.

Hosea spoke first, looking at the almost terrified seeming woman, "Miss, where did you get those clothes? They're not like anything we've seen and... we've seen a lot of people."

Celina looked down at her attire, a lump in her throat to see what shirt she was wearing which was none other than her RDR2 shirt along with converse shoes and a pair of ripped jeans. She met Dutch's and Hosea's gazes, her heart feeling if it may stop from the look Bill Williamson was sending her from across the room. She scratched at her left arm nervously, the gang was much more intimidating in real life than she would have imagined, "I- you would think I'm crazy." Of course she had to be wearing the shirt with Arthur on the front.

"Considering your shirt has our friends face on it... without 'wanted', I don't believe this could get much weirder." Dutch's words were guarded as he assessed the woman, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Celina closed her eyes tightly, if she could just wake up. She pinched her arm again less discretely, "What're you doing?"

She opened her blue orbs once more you study Dutch, the only thing separating the two of them being her bed. Dutch was tall, she realized, taller than she had thought he would be, "What year is it?"

The leaders dark eyes widened, "What year is it? My dear, what have you been through? Who don't know the years 1899? We're living at the end of the wild west era."

"No." The simple word came out in almost a whisper and the three men in the room looked at one another in further confusion.

"Ok." Dutch nodded, trying to be as accepting as possible, "I'm going to have my friends come in here, they're all cold, just like you." He took a slow step backwards, "We're bad men, miss...?"

"Celina, Celina Knoll."

"We're bad men miss Knoll, but no one here will hurt you." He turned his attention to Hosea, "See that she's comfortable with the gang and try to get her to talk. Arthur and I are going to join Micah and John in scouting here in a minute."

Hosea nodded and approached Celina, guiding her gently to a chair in the corner of the room and handing her a blanket as she sat. "Don't be letting anyone see your shirt just yet dear, not until we figure some things out."

Celina nodded as she pulled the blanket up to her chest, the last thing she wanted was a gang of outlaws being suspicious of her. She figured that it was bad enough Dutch had seen it although at this point, he was still pretty sane. Bill Williamson though, could very well be the true problem at the moment. Also of course, there was the fact that if she was really in 1899... She would think herself lucky to survive five days... expecially with the drama of the Van Der Linde gang.

It was just her luck, to be stuck with a gang of outlaws without recalling even how she got there, that was assuming of course that she truly wasn't dreaming. The last thing she remembered before arriving was turning on her game. How things change.

"Common in, we're safe here..

Arthur, help out with Davey's body." He glanced back at Celina before moving away from the door and allowing the gang to file inside, everyone's eyes immediately gravitating to her. Dutch wasted no time in addressing this, "Leave her alone for now, I don't believe her to be a threat. Poor soul seems to have been through a lot."

A woman spoke up who Celina was all too good at forgetting the name of, "Let's get that fire started, blankets brought in and Pearson, start getting the food in order." It was too weird, seeing the historical events as told in the game based on Arthur's journals unfolding before her eyes. She stayed silent although was taking in everything without missing a single detail, realizing by the second that her predicament was seeming less and less like a dream. But how could it not be?

Everyone was quiet as the dead body of the man called Davey was brought into the room and laid gently on the bed, quarters placed lovingly over his closed eyes. Dutch took a deep breath as he looked around at the glum faces of his gang, "I loved Davey, Jenny, Sean, Mac... and maybe some of them could be ok, we don't know." He gestured to the dead body on the bed, shaking his head sadly, "Nothing more we could have done... it's truly been a rough couple of days." A spark of hope gleamed in his eyes, "We can come back from this, everything will be ok." His voice was sure, athoritive, "Arthur, let's head out and help Micah and John scout the area, look for supplies."

Arthur nodded after tearing his gaze away from the woman who sat away from the gang in the corner of the room before turning on his heel and following Dutch out the door, "Who was that in there?"

Dutch shook his head and mounted his horse, Arthur doing the same, "I do not know, Arthur. I do not know." He urged his horse forward as did Arthur and the two of them trotted away from the cabins, "She seems spooked, asked me what year it was."

"What year it was?" He glanced over at Dutch, "What happened to her? Was she held against her will?"

Dutch shook his head again, "Like I said Arthur, I don't know. There's something weird going on though, I can tell you that much... I have Hosea back there with her trying to get her to talk. We won't push her but we do need to know what's going on... why you're on her shirt."

Arthur's eyes widened, "I'm on her shirt?!"

"Yes," The slightly older man nodded, "And it's not advertising a bounty either."

"How could I be on her shirt? That makes no sense."

"None of this makes since, son. We'll figure it out."

...

"One moment I was sitting in front of my tv and the next-"

"Hold on dear," Hosea cut her off gently, sitting beside her on the bed in an empty cabin they had moved to to talk privately for the time-being. "What's a tv?"

Celina laughed, "I'm sorry, of course you wouldn't know what it is... tv's are things that let you watch shows from home, they're a source of entertainment."

"How times have changed," the older man muttered, staring at the strange marks on her hands and arms. "And those?"

Celina smiled, looking down at her tattoos, "Just tattoos... a form of self-expression."

He huffed, "I've never seen that many marks on someone that they recieved willingly."

Celina took a deep breath and stared into his eyes intently, "Hosea, I'm not dreaming, am I?"

He took a deep breath, as if trying to collect himself, "No my dear, I'm afraid you're not."

...

A/N: There's chapter 2, let me know what you think if you would and what you expect/want to see in the story?

Hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own RDR or anything associated with it.


	3. Chapter 3

"I really hope everyone makes it back safe with this weather." Hosea looked away from Celina's tattoos. He was fascinated by them, but wasn't sure he liked them. The girl saying that she was from the future was starting to seem more and more likely, despite being entirely impossible at the same time.

"They will be fine." She said it matter of factly, "I know who all of you are... some names haven't stuck but whatever." She shrugged, "If I'm going to be here with you guys, I might as well help where I can. But..." She glanced over at Hosea, "I can't give everything away, what if I think I'm making something better and it actually turns out worse?"

The older man studied the young woman with intrest, "My dear, you must use your better judgement. If you're not dreaming, and I'm not dreaming, then we may have a truly special gift upon us."

Celina swallowed, thinking about the fate of the good-hearted man before her. What all was she supposed to reveal or not reveal to them? If she was dreaming, why did everything feel so real? If she wasn't dreaming, how on God's green earth would she ever get back to 2018? She forced a smile despite tears threatening to build, she missed her family, friends... The thought of never seeing them again devastated her, the thought they may not even know who she is. Were they still alive in the future? Or had the whole world been set back in time? Celina had never been a believer in a parallel universe or alternate reality... nor time-travel for that matter. "I trust if I help you guys you'll help try to get me back to where I belong," she looked at the floor almost awkwardly, "if that's at all possible."

Hosea nodded, the corner of his mouth lifting in a small, sympathetic smile, "Make it a promise dear. Tell me though, how do you know about us, besides being from the future, that is." He wasn't trying to push, only trying to keep the woman's mind off her misfortunes and collect any information he could.

Celina laughed, "If you're buying the time- travel, I still might loose you here." She shook her head, hardly able to believe what she was saying herself, "There's a videogame based on this point of your guy's lives that just came out in 2018."

Hosea's eyes narrowed, "A video game?"

"Yes," She laughed, "It's based on what was found of Arthur's journals. I don't know how accurate everything is so that may be a problem in helping you guys but I assume most of the game is factual. Some is probably... added entertainment."

Hosea laughed, "Miss, please do explain yourself, I'm as lost as can be on that."

"Well," she raised a brow, "Are there really animals incredibly huge for their species at this point in time?"

Hosea's mouth gaped open, "No?" Even after he gave his answer, it was incredibly easy to practically see the wheels in his head still turning.

She laughed again and moved to sit criss-cross on the bed, facing the older man, "Ok, we've got a lot to cover."

"So, videogames." The older man shook his head in disapproval after Celina spent likely over an hour explaining the future and threw sorcery in his mind, of videogames, "Miss, I do not believe the future is something I would want to be a part of."

She smiled again, she liked Hosea. Yes, she loved him in RDR2 but in real life? He was a truly likable man. Talking to him almost made her forget the type of people she was amongst, thieves and killers. Although, at the current point in time, they hadn't yet gotten so careless with taking lives.

At the sound of Arthur and Dutch's voice, Hosea moved to the window, peering out it in curiosity, "The boys are back except... I do not see Mr. Marston. Instead, it seems they've found a girl."

Celina moved to the window too, still shocked at how real everything was. She was honestly staring out the window at Dutch Van Der Linde in the flesh, "Her name is Sadie Adler."

Hosea raised a brow, "Well dear, seems like you aren't so bad with names."

She shrugged, "She's a major part of your guy's journey. Her husband was killed by the O'Driscolls... I can tell you Micah found his body hidden by them in a wheelbarrow."

"So you really, really like the game I take it..." His voice trailed off in thought, "I'd keep your vast knowledge between the two of us for now dear... unless needed otherwise."

"Oh, for sure..." She watched as Sadie was helped from the horse, "I'm going to tell you this though, Hosea... you need to do your best to keep Dutch on the right path." She suddenly felt stupid, knowing no one in that gang was on the right path, "Or I mean, help him to keep from losing himself."

His eyes narrowed as he looked away from the window and to Celina, "What are you trying to say, dear?"

Celina took a deep breath, realizing that she had to use her words very carefully to avoid possibly messing anything up more than it already was, "I'm just saying the times ahead are not going to be easy for Dutch. They won't be easy for anyone for that matter but," She took another deep breath, "Expecially not Dutch."

Hosea nodded once in acknowledgment, "Why don't you come out with me and welcome them back considering the women here were kind enough to lend you a new blouse?"

She nodded back at him, taking a moment to look down at the pink blouse she now wore. Hosea moved to open the for her, causing her to nod respectfully in thanks, "I suppose if I'm going to be stuck here with you indefinitely, I may as well get to know you guys."

Together they approached the group which had gathered around Dutch, Arthur, Micah and Mrs. Adler. Dutch was explaining what had happened in the last few hours, "We found a homestead, but weren't the first. Colm O'Driscoll and his scum beat us to it." His gaze rested on Celina for a moment, glad to see her out there with Hosea. He had figured that he'd be the best one to ensure her being comfortable, "We found some of them there, apparently scouting a train... got all the supplies we could manage, but most importantly we found this poor soul, Miss Adler." He looked over to a couple women who Celina recognized from the game, "Miss Karen, Miss Tilly, would you warm her up? Get her a drink or something?"

The two women nodded, leading Sadie inside the nearest cabin, Dutch called after her, empathy clear on his voice, "Miss Adler, it's gonna be ok, you're safe now."

He shook his head and once the new arrival was safely inside, he spoke again, "They turned her into a widow- Animals." He spit the word out with ferocity, hatred dripping from the word. "Anyway, I need some rest, haven't slept in three days."

"Dutch, you can take the room over there," Miss Grimshaw pointed to one of the cabins and went on to let everyone else know where they would be staying.

"What?" Micha looked at her with disbelief, "Why do I have to be the one to share a room with Bill Williamson?"

Everyone rolled their eyes, not caring enough about Micah's protest. Realizing that she hadn't been appointed a room, Celina spoke up almost shyly, "Excuse me, Miss Grimshaw... I don't think you told me what room I'd be staying in."

The older woman looked at her apologetically, "I'm so sorry, um..." She looked around at the cabins, trying to assess which one had room for another person, "We can move a couple of the girls in with Dutch if that's ok with you?" Her question was addressing Dutch, who shook his head.

"No need to change sleeping arrangements, Miss Grimshaw, Miss Celina is more than welcome to stay with me in my cabin."

Miss Grimshaw's mouth was agape for a moment as she looked back to the young woman, "Celina, would you feel comfortable staying with Dutch? If not-"

"Oh for God's sake, Miss Grimshaw, there's no need for her to be uncomfortable, I'm not a monster." He offered a soft smile to Celina, "What do you say miss? Would that be alright with you?"

Celina shifted her weight from one foot to the other, tucking her lips into her mouth in thought. Dutch Van Der Linde was not a good man, she knew that, but he was also above rape, even at his worst. She nodded once, still feeling shy towards the group, "I think I'd be ok with that."

At that, Miss Grimshaw nodded, seeming satisfied, as did Dutch and everyone divided up, all heading to their cabins for the night, Dutch beckoning for Celina to follow him, "Come on miss Knoll, time to see what we have awaiting us."

...

The cabin wasn't terrible upon entering it, but it definately wasn't clean. Everything about it screamed abandoned for at least a few months, dust thickly coating the furniture as it did. Dutch gave the arm chair a few swats with his hand, making the dust fly off for the most part before turning to Celina with a hopeful smile, spreading his arms wide, gesturing to the room, "What do you think?"

Celina forced a small smile, doing her best not to compare the small cabin to the apartment she used to own and so desperately wanted to get back to. "It's nice, for the time period." She laughed almost humorlessly, "I still can't believe that I'm standing here with you right now."

Dutch laughed, his charming smile practically lighting up his face, "Well miss, I hope there is some flattery behind those words."

She blushed slightly and glanced down at her feet, if she wasn't so stressed at the possibility that she wasn't dreaming, she may have tried to take advantage of that open door. Instead, she laughed it off lightly, "I'm just saying, Dutch, I need to get back home- or wake up. One or the other because I have-" she took a deep, shaky breath, trying to keep her emotions under control. She felt like she could burst into tears at any given moment and Dutch Van Der Linde was not someone she wanted thinking of her as weak, or a burden. "I have no idea how I got here."

His facial expression softened at her distress and he sighed heavily, "I must say this has been a very taxing day for me as well. What do you say we both get some sleep and then we'll see what tomorrow brings? Maybe by then you will have some idea of how you got yourself into this mess."

Celina nodded with a heavy sigh of her own, "That would be lovely, Dutch. I appreciate you and Hosea being so understang."

"Well, Hosea... that's just how he is, and you're welcome miss." He started towards the bedroom.

"And Dutch?"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder at the short woman in intrest, "Yes?"

She kicked at the ground lightly, "You don't need to call me 'Miss', Celina is fine."

He gave a small smile and continued into the room only to grow silent when she followed, an almost awkward look on his face which she had never even imagined on him before. A seemimg involuntary smirk traced his features as he observed the situation, "Well Celina, I suppose I'll leave the choice of the top or bottom to you."

A faint blush tainted her cheeks at his words although it was blatantly obvious he was referring to the bunk bed on the left-hand side of the room. She shook her head, despite her situation, she was always one humored by a good dirty joke, "I'll take the top."

Dutch laughed heartedly at her redenned face, "I'd say miss, you're going to fit in with us until we get you back home just fine."

She shook her head and climbed into the top bunk, "Remember, just my first name is fine."

...

A/N: Well, RDR2 broke my heart tonight, I'm around the 58% mark and actually teared up. But anyway, here's the third chapter, let me know what you think if you would and thank you for all of the comments so far, I read them all and they really motivate me to write.

To set any worries aside, a lot of this book is going to be centered around the plot in RDR2 and not just the love triangle although it will of course, continue to be there. That said, certain things will of course go differently as needed for the story but I just have to be carefull with what I change or it could differ too far from the original story.

Well, as said, hope you guys enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do not own RDR or anything associated with it.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days had passed since the gang had found Celina, and one day had passed since John had been found up in the mountains after having been apparently attacked by a pack of wolves. He was fussed over for the night but his injuries luckily were not the fatal type, his leg catching the brunt of the damage.

Arthur and Charles had brought in a few good sized deer, just barely enough food to hold everyone over for the next couple days. Celina was getting tired as night rolled in on the third day, it was clearly obvious to her now that she was well and truly sent back to the year of 1899 and thrown into the hands of the gang.

Dutch was growing antsy to get out of their current location and get a move on as were everyone else. Except, unlike everyone else, Dutch wasn't willing to go back to Blackwater to get their money and unlike anyone else, Celina knew that that money would never be obtained to help the gang with their escape.

Was Dutch's decision to leave the money in Blackwater effected or even started by Micah? Celina was willing to bet on it, the weasel knew exactly how to get into Dutch's head and he did it well. It made Celina feel almost physically sick to think of the rat intentionally trying to lead Dutch to his downfall.

She wanted to say something to the gang, anything, even put a bullet in Micah there and then if she knew how to shoot and wouldn't be killed by the gang for it. She had to be careful though and tread lightly on such matters which Hosea had whole-heartedly agreed with her on. It would only be her luck to think she was helping and land the gang in worse trouble than they had originally gotten themselves into.

Celina hated theives and theft, but from the few days she had been around the gang, she realized that theives and theft after the wild west era was what she truly hated... 1899, was very different than 2018... theft, silly to say, was different in 2018 than 1899. Plus, she couldn't bring herself to hate the gang, not even knowing what they did for a living. They had been good to her and understanding over the last few days. Dare she say, they weren't terrible people... Except Micah of course... and Bill, well, Bill was iffy.

She almost laughed out loud at the thoughts going through her head. The boys had hardly been with the rest of the gang since she arrived, having went and wiped out an O'Driscoll base, at Dutch's command, the day before and earlier today having robbed a train. Perhaps instead of going by the video game she loved to judge that they weren't terrible men, she should get to know the gang and deduce the character of the people she was surrounded by herself.

Celina put her horse brush back in the saddlebag of the horse that Arther let her have. The brown mare had been his before he found the paint upon rescuing Sadie Adler. Now, he claimed that she would get more use out of the horse than he. Pleasing to her, the tough-as-nails gunslinger had also promised to teach her how to shoot once getting settled into the new camp they were going to be leaving in pursuit of. She needed the training as he had said, with now living in the wild west and all.

"We've got some money in our pockets, it's time we move out." Dutch spoke from where he stood out at the wagons, continuing to bark orders at everyone as they prepared to leave. "Arthur, you're in that one, he pointed down the line of wagons, I know you and Hosea like to talk about what's gone wrong with good ol' Dutch."

Arthur shook his head went to the wagon he had been directed to, climbing in and observing quietly as Dutch turned to the new addition to the group, Celina. Their conversation could be heard clearly, "Miss Celina, would you do me the honor of riding with me?"

Celina's tongue darted across her lips, quickly moistening them, and then she raked her hand through her hair before nodding, "Yea, I'll ride with you."

Dutch dipped his head in acknowledgment, peased with the young woman's response.

After climbing into the wagon himself, he reached a hand out to her, offering help up into the wagon which she accepted. Arthur bit his bottom lip, feeling a bit nervous, what was it that his boss was trying to get from the girl by giving out that special treatment. Was it true attraction and flirtation? Arthur hoped so for the girls sake and that it wasn't just Dutch trying to pull any and all information he could from her in order to get answers he desired about the future- if this video game she claimed to play was as historically correct as it apparently claimed to be. Sure, his journal held a lot of detail regarding day to day things, it was the perfect method of getting things off his chest and clearing his mind, he loved it. But still, he was skeptical about how close game producers in 2018 stayed to the truth. Like the legendary animal thing? That was a whole lot of bull and even if it weren't, there would be no way Hosea at his age would be out trying to hunt them.

Celina glanced over at Dutch as he urged the horses forwards through the still thick snow. He was just as attractive as he had been in RDR2, the pictures that had been captured of him at the time, clearly having done the handsome man justice. Despite that, after they had laid down to sleep the first night, Celina had silently cried herself to sleep in the top bunk of the bed they shared. It didn't make since, how she could have been sent back in time nor did she believe she would find a way back. Waking up that first morning concluded for the woman that there was no way her current situation was a dream. With that, she highly doubted there would be a way to get back to 2018, if 2018 even existed at all... anywhere anymore. She took a shaky breath and tried to focus on the incredible scenery she was presented with, despite the bitter cold.

"Are you ok, miss?"

Celina laughed lightly and nodded, breaking herself out of her deep and depressing thoughts with much relief, "Yes, I'm fine, but really, do call me Celina." It had been a few days since Celina first made that request of him and it hadn't seemed to have stuck all that well.

Dutch smiled, shaking his head slightly at the young woman's seemingly insistent nature, "I will do my best to keep that in mind, m- Celina." He laughed at his near mess up then as well, "Celina." His tone was firm, as if he were trying to seer the correction into his mind. "Are you sure you're alright dear?"

Celina nodded, making eye contact with the boss, not wanting to do even the slightest thing to add onto his stress, "Yes, I'm fine. Just, things are on my mind..." She reached her hand into the pocket of her coat and lowered her voice to minimize the chances of anyone but Dutch hearing her, "As the snow started to melt a bit, I found this.." She pulled the object from the pocket of the coat which Mrs. Adler had kindly lent her and revealed the item in her grasp to Dutch, "It's your old... or old by the time I was actually born, pocketwatch."

Dutch's eyes widened as he looked at the watch, Celina turning it over in her hands as he studied it so he wouldn't have to take his hands off the reigns, "How is any of this possible?" His voice was quiet, incredulous.

Celina shrugged, "I do not know, Dutch, I don't have the slightest clue."

...

"Micah, Lenny, get up here!" Dutch yelled towards the back of the group when they started to near their destination. It had been a ride that lasted at least a couple hours, Celina and Dutch periodically small-talking throughout the duration of the ride.

"Yes boss," Micah immediately rode up to the front of the group, trotting his horse right bedside Dutch's wagon.

"Go up ahead and make sure there's no surprises, we've had enough of those."

Micah looked surprised, "Me, with the kid?"

Dutch nodded, already looking like he may be regretting his decision, "Yes, I suppose."

At that, Micah took off, yelling back at Lennny something about him buying him a whisky who followed him eagerly. Celina rolled her eyes with disgust at Micah's 'eagerness' to obey Dutch's orders, he may not have started snitching yet.. He may have, it was hard to tell but it was for sure there was no loyalty in Micah, he was well and truly a rat.

The gang continued to travel onwards, to the point they had to cross the stream which the wheel of Arthur's wagon would fall off. Celina spoke to Dutch, wanting to give him even more solid proof that she was being honest about her experiences with their lives, God knew she needed to do her best to get Dutch to stay in her side as long as she could, "After Arthur crosses the river, the back left wheel of his wagon will fall off."

When exactly that happened a few minutes later, Dutch looked back at Celina with wide eyes. He stopped his own wagon and turned around in his seat, looking back at Arthur, "You guys alright?"

"Yea, just... knocked my wheel off."

"Ok, well just meet us up at Horseshoe Overlook once you get it back on son. We'll see you there." After recieving an acknowledging nod, Dutch urged his horses forwards up up the path. "You weren't kidding about having seen a lot of this before, were you?"

Celina shook her head, "No, only you and Hosea know... I don't know if Bill does.. He may have seen my shirt you know, the one-"

"Yep, I know the one," Dutch sighed, "I just want to keep this quiet a little longer until we get a little more clarification. I myself, have let Arthur in the loop, but that's it."

Celina nodded, "Arthur will be the least of any worries."

...

"You weren't wrong Hosea, this place is perfect!" Dutch greeted Arthur, Hosea and Charles as they pulled into camp.

Hosea slowly climbed down from the wagon, "I hope so."

As everyone climbed out of the wagon and approached him, Dutch spread his arms wide, "Gentlemen, we have survived."

"At least for now." Javier quipped as he passed by, watching the camp come more and more together with each tent the women set up.

Dutch ignored his comment, not being able to dial down his excitement and optimistic feeling towards the future, "Now, it's time to prosper."

Hosea rolled his eyes a bit, "Arthur and I were about to prosper in Blackwater. We were on to something big, then Micah got you all excited about that ferry and here we are."

"We have all made mistakes, Hosea, every last one of us." Dutch gestured to himself, "But I kept us together, I kept us alive. Kept the nooses off our necks." He started to walk away, unbeknownst to Celina who had paused with the set up of the camp to watch him with worried eyes.

Hosea chased after him in attempt to defuse the situation to the best of his ability, "I ain't got that long Dutch, I want to see everyone safe before I go."

Dutch took a deep breath, "I'm just trying to take care of us."

"Me too!" Hosea's voice shook with emotion, "Now we're heading east, out of money and a long way from our dream of virgin land in the west."

Dutch closed his eyes slowly, "I know, my brother, but we are safe. We make a bit of money here and then move around them and head west of uncle Sam. Then, in a few months, we'll buy some land." He moved away from Arthur and Hosea to gesture to the west, "Just look at this world before us-"

Strauss cut them off as he walked up, "Gentlemen, I am heading into town, possibly strike up some business."

Dutch turned around, "Of course Herr Strauss." He lowered his voice a bit, "I pefer bank robbery over usery. Seems more.. dignified somehow." He took a deep breath and spoke loudly enough to be heard throughout the camp, "Everyone, put your tools down for a moment and gather around, quickly now." Once he saw he had everyone's attention, he began speaking as they approached, "I know things have been tough, but we are safe now, and far too poor. So it is time for everyone to get to work."

Hosea cut in, "Get to work but stay out of trouble, remember we are itinerant workers."

Dutch continued, "Laid off when they shut down our factory up north." He made eye contact with everyone, including Celina who swallowed almost nervously at the intensity of his gaze, "Now get out there and see what you can find- But don't forget," He raised up the red wooden box, "To give back to the group a cut of whatever you may find."

Celina stood there for a moment, glancing back at Dutch after their intense eye contact was broken and took a deep breath. The woman shook her head as she headed towards her tent. If everything was going to go the way it did in the game, it sure would be a hard thing to watch, let alone be caught up in.

...

A/N: There's the fourth chapter, this is going to be a long story guys, since the game is so massive but I'll try to give you at least two or three chapters a week, if not more. What did you guys think? I know no detailed interactions with Arthur yet but the story is still just getting started. Me, myself, I completed the storyline today and... Dutch. I just love him, that last scene with him, gosh, hit me in the feelings lol. But anyway, any thoughts on the few interactions he and Celina have had?

Thanks for the all the comments so far by the way!

Disclaimer: I do not own RDR or anythimg associated with it.


	5. Chapter 5

The amount of sleep Celina had managed to get the night before was almost satisfactory. As much as she hated to admit, she had also laid in bed for an hour after waking up, just listening as the morning commotion gradually grew louder with more and more people waking up. This was her life now, she took a deep breath before opening her eyes again and sat up seeing Arthur approach her tent, his guns all strapped to him in one way or another. He leaned leaned lightly against one of the barrels in the corner of her tent, "If you're ready, we can ride out from here and I'll teach you some about shooting. Maybe we'll do some hunting while we're at it." He lowered his voice, his tone playful, "Between you and I, Dutch isn't so pleasant with a growling stomach."

Celina laughed at the comment and glanced over at Dutch who stood in the front of his tent, surveying the camp before him, his eyes ever watchful for any impending threat to his people. "Somehow, I think I can see that."

The outlaw chuckled, a spark of humor still in his blue eyes, "We'll head out from camp once you get dressed, there's a spot I saw on the way here which would make for good target practice. Are you any good at riding?"

Celina nodded, "Yea, I like the mare you lent me, she handles well. I'll only be a moment."

Arthur nodded, and placed a cigarette between his lips before lighting it and walking away to give her some privacy, the most privacy she would get at the camp anyway. He stood just a little away from her, keeping watch for anyone with disrespectful eyes.

Celina groaned as she pulled on her pants, it wasn't so common for the time, but she wasn't going to wear a dress like all the other women at camp, she had always been a Tom-boy and being in another century sure wasn't going to change that. But- she was forced to wear another frilly blouse since that was all the other women at the camp were able to lend her as far as a top. She would have to make-do and despite herself, she did kind of like the outfit it came together to be. "Ok," she spoke as she pulled on her shoes, the same pair of black converse shoes she had arrived in. It was likely someone would notice if they went into town but fortunately less likely for anyone to even remotely believe the truth... outside of the group that was. "I'm decent, you can look."

Arthur did just that, turning back towards her and giving her a discrete once-over. Despite all the poor woman had been through, she sure seemed to be accepting things as they were and holding herself together- as did Miss Adler for that matter. It seemed to him that they may have gotten lucky to pick up two good women.

He cleared his throat, seeing that she was looking at him expectantly, at least he had thought he had been discrete in assessing her figure, "So, we'll head out then."

Celina nodded, and together, they made their way through camp, her following him. "Where are the two of you heading off to?"

Dutch's voice stopped them in their tracks, Arthur turning around to face his boss, "Just heading out away from camp for a bit, Celina needs to learn how to shoot if she's going to be running with us."

Dutch nodded in approval, rolling his cigar between his fingers, "If you would happen to come across a pipe, pick it up for me if you would. I like cigars but sometimes, I just need a pipe."

Celina nodded at the same time as Arthur dipped his head in acknowledgement and then the two of them were off.

...

Celina surveyed her surroundings, taking in the beauty of the forest as she rode alongside Arthur. The snow was completely gone to her delight in the area they had chosen to camp. She hated the winter, hated the snow, the cold, all of it.

She dared to look over at Arthur, taking in his healthy appearance once again. She knew what she was going to have to do in order to save him, keep him and anyone else in the gang from contracting the dreaded and terrible TB. Would she be able to explain herself, she wondered? Or would everyone blame her and refuse to believe the reason why she had done what she had done? Celina sighed, the worst part was she couldn't remember the name of the man who had given Arthur TB, only that Arthur had caught it from him when attempting to collect a dept for Strauss... that meant that she would have to do away with all records of loans which the gang had given it. Oh boy were they going to hate her at least for a while. Unless... of course, they believed her.

Arthur broke her out of her thoughts, "You ok over there? You're awfully quiet."

She bit her bottom lip almost nervously before nodding, "I'm alright, just a lot on my mind is all. I'm trying to work out how to help the best I can, and also..."

Arthur hummed in agreement, not needing her to explain herself further, "You are worrying about how you can get back home?"

She nodded, "Not only that, but how I even got here in the first place." She shook her head and gave a short laugh, "I know I must sound like a broken record with how much I've been saying that but I really wish I could make since of it at least."

Arthur was quiet for a moment, "Some things, I suppose are just not meant to be understood."

Celina sighed, "Yea, I guess so."

He looked over at her and offered a small smile as he slowed his horse down and she matched his pace, "This is the place, we can leave our horses by these trees up here." He gestured to the last line of trees before the clearing up ahead, "Maybe this will help you to take your mind off of things."

The woman climbed off her mare and led her by foot to the section of trees Arthur had pointed out. There was so much she wanted to say to him, so much she wanted to warn him about and although he was a good man, she was almost afraid to tell him. She wasn't afraid of what he might do, but what he might not do, she didn't want to take the chance of not being believed and having everything go the way they had originally went the first time. It was too much of a risk to take and she only hoped they wouldn't end up killing her for doing some things that they wouldn't agree with. "I sure hope it does, Arthur. God knows I need a distraction."

Arthur shook his head as he unloaded some guns from his horse. "Don't we all?"

She raised her brows in agreement, "I'd say." She gestured to the weapons which he was approaching her with, "So, what one am I going to get to use?" She eyed the shotguns and rifles slung over his shoulder eagerly, her face dropping slightly when he handed her a much less intimidating side-arm.

He laughed, not missing the look on her face, "Considering you are only just now learning to shoot, we're going to start you off with something a lot less powerful, work you up to the big boys."

Celina rolled her eyes jokingly, "If you insist, boss."

Arthur chuckled again to himself before pointing to a tree that was a short distance away, and thick, "That one should be a good starting target, land three bullets in the center of the trunk and we'll see what we're dealing with."

Celina raised the gun rather awkwardly, her stance even worse which caused the outlaw to laugh at her again and her give him a playful glare. He backed up dramatically, raising his hands in a mock surrender, "For such a little thing you sure are intimidating."

This caused her to roll her eyes, "Shut up, and help me Arthur. You're supposed to help, not make fun."

The cowboy chuckled, adjusting his gamblers hat quickly and stepped forwards, coming to stand right behind her. Celina took a deep breath, feeling his firm body against hers, it was then she truly felt small, the top of her head only coming up to about his chin. When he spoke, his warm breath ticked her ear, "If this makes you uncomfortable, just let me know."

She closed her eyes, breathing in his manly, musky scent mixed with the smell of cigarettes which he smoked a few times a day. "No," she shook her head, trying not to lose her coherent thoughts, "I need to learn, so show me what I need to do."

Sure could feel him take in a deep breath of his own and shift behind her before guiding her to stand in the stance which he found it easiest to shoot, pulling her arm forward so that she would be able to accurately shoot the center of the trunk. "Ok," His voice was low, husky, "Go ahead and take your shot."

Celina swallowed, every nerve ending on her body feeling all too sensitive and tingly. Then, she took the shot, feeling the force of the weapon all the way down her arm. "You hit it," Arthur sounded pleased and pointed out in front of her to where the middle of the tree was splintered from the bullet. He then moved her back into stance, still keeping his body pressed against hers, "Take another shot."

She did so again, him praising her when the bullet lined up almost perfectly with the first one, "Now, you're on your own."

Celina immediately felt the cold air on her back again when he stepped away, almost instantly wishing she had him pressed against her again, "Ok," she took a deep, nervous breath, hoping she wouldn't fail completely without his guidance, "Here goes nothing."

"You've got this," he encouraged from where he stood off to the side of her, "Line yourself up like I showed you and just shoot, don't give yourself time to second-guess your judgementment."

She took another deep breath and nodded, quickly firing into the tree before looking away.

"Now why do you look afraid to look?" Arthur still sounded amused, "Look at the tree and tell me if you made it or not."

Nervously, she obeyed and looked over at the tree to faintly see new damage in the center of the trunk. From what she could tell, she made it, and it was very close to the other shots she had made with Arthur's help. She gave a small smile, pleased with her surprising accomplishment, "I guess that wasn't so bad."

"No, it wasn't, see? You're not confident enough with yourself." He surveyed the area briefly before pointing to another tree further in the distance, "Go ahead and fire five into that one over there. Don't worry about hitting the center yet, just hit the tree and we'll call it good."

Celina nodded, focusing on the tree which was serving as her new target, "Is this good?" She inquired of him, asking about her stance.

The corner of his mouth dipped downward in slight disapproval, "Not quite, you've got to always adjust based on where your target is." He walked over to her and stood how he had before with his body pressed up against her from behind. He moved her gently, lining her up appropriately to succeeded in hitting her target. "Now," He allowed her to adjust her arm herself, "Go ahead and take your shot."

Celina did just as she was told, cringing in disappointment when the bullet whizzed by the tree. "It's ok," he reassured her, "But that tells you that your aim was off, keep your body like this and adjust your aim."

Celina took another deep breath and closed her eyes tightly for a moment, "Ok," opening her eyes, she aimed again, and fired, this time satisfied when she heard the bullets impact with the tree despite being too far away to actually see the damage.

Arthur seemed to read her mind, "Good, now four more and we'll get closer to see your accuracy."

She nodded and fired again, hearing the satisfying impact, then again, again, and yet again. Arthur moved away from her after the third bullet, leaving her to hit the tree with the last two alone. He seemed pleased, "Ok, let's go take a look."

At that, the two of them made their way over to their target, Arthur pointing out each of the five bullets successfully lodged in the trunk, "Not bad on your accuracy, could be better and will be with time. I figure when we come out here next time we'll bring some cans or bottles, make it a little harder."

Celina laughed, "Harder already? I barely succeeded today."

"You did fine," Arthur's voice was decisive, authoritative, "We should be getting back though, it's a bit of a ride."

...

That's just what they did, packed up and headed back to the camp. Throughout the ride that Arthur predicted to take about forty minutes, they made small-talk. For the most part, it was he who was asking questions, "So, do you have a man in your life, in 2018 that is?"

Celina smiled and shook her head, "At this point I don't think it would matter if I did..." Arthur looking at her, still waiting for a full answer made her smile wider, "But, no, I didn't have anyone. Haven't for a while."

He nodded and was quiet for a moment, "What do you like to do in your free time?"

That, was a hard question, at least a hard one to explain to someone in 1899. She pursed her lips, "Spend time with my friends mostly, I try to make time for my parents but we were all always so busy with work. Love horses, video games..." She figured she would lose him there and that would be where explaining would get complicated to her surprise, he nodded.

"Hosea tried to explain those to me. I think I almost understand."

Celina laughed, "Well a big thank you to Hosea."

Arthur smirked, looking at her from the corner of his eye, "And Dutch told me about the shirt you had on when you first arrived."

A blush spread across her face and looked away from the cowboy in moderate embarrassment, trying to hide her face. It seemed like 1899 would be quite interesting.

...

A/N: That time gap of a few weeks seems like it's going to be useful to the story. Pretty much Arthur and Celina's first detailed interaction in this chapter. Also, this chapter was a little longer, so hopefully they will continue to be around this length.

As always, love to hear any suggestions and or comments, opinions from you guys if you have the chance!

Hope you enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do not own RDR or anything associated with it.


	6. Chapter 6

Just as Dutch had asked of them, the gang had been laying low for the past couple weeks. It was to Celina's relief that they hadn't been robbing and killing, she couldn't stand thinking of them doing either. That violence, well, it went against everything she stood for and the thought of par-taking in it just did not settle right with her.

Arthur had been taking her out almost daily to learn to shoot and she was getting better and better by the day, sometimes waking up the next day too sore to go out that evening. Luckily Arthur understood. Luckily, she had made it clear to him that she never wanted to be in a position to shoot anyone. She wouldn't go robbing with them- no. But, should the camp be attacked, she agreed to defend it. A weight settled in her heart at that thought knowing that's what things would come to.

It scared her, the thought of killing someone-anyone but she knew that as long as she stuck with the gang, her life, or the lives of her friends would depend on how well she could hold her own. Or would she kill for them, really?

There was one thing thing though that Celina had absolutely set her mind on, and that was saving those whom she saw good in, Arthur, John... his family, Hosea, and surprisingly, Dutch. Dutch still had his humanity, he didn't have to fall... again, would she be able to save him though? That was the question, it was going to been easier said than done and she had come to the heart-wrenching realization that the only way to save Dutch, may be nearly impossible... she'd have to get him away from the outlaw life, permanently just to save his humanity.

It was going to be hard, getting away with the first thing she knew she had to do but if she wanted to save him... she moved her arm from its position draped over her eyes and slowly got up off her cott, not wanting to make enough noise to attract any attention to herself. Strauss kept the book beside him, she knew that much, it would be in his tent.

If she was going to be successful, she had to be as stealthy as humanly possible, she was aware that some of the gang may be awake while the rest... except Uncle, were pretty sound sleepers. So, that in mind, in a crouched position, she began to make her way past the tents of those whom may shoot her should she be caught. Sure, Celina could have told them, explained to them that if Arthur, or any of them for that matter were to go and collect the money they were owed from that one sick man who's name escaped Celina's mind, they could potentially catch his disease. That said though, they could simply refuse to believe her and if they did that and she then went and destroyed their record of who they were owed money by, it would only likely make the situation much, much worse.

At the sound of someone else moving about, she crouched behind one of the wagons, holding her breath in fear that whoever was up would approach her. When nothing happened, Celina continued to sneak towards where Strauss slept. The hardest part would be finding the book without waking the man up.

Just as the young woman neared the tent, she froze, both hearing and feeling a stick crunch beneath her foot. She looked around, panicked for a moment before continuing to sneak to her destination.

Then she was there, crouched in the dark before Herr Strauss's tent. She took another deep breath, barely making out where the book sat just to the side of and slightly under the man's cott. She stared at him for a moment, assessing his sleeping form for any sign that he would wake easily. Reaching over next to her, Celina grabbed for a stick and carefully moved it towards the book, keeping her arm steady to avoid accidentally nudging the cott.

She practically groaned in frustration when the thin stick failed to move the book at the only angle she was able to get on it. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, building herself up mentally as she sat the stick down and began to creep closer to the bed.

He stirred just when she was close enough to the book to reach it and she took another quiet but deep breath. Who knew saving Arthur Morgan from TB would be so nerve-wracking? As soon as he settled back into a good sleep, Celina quickly reached down and grabbed the book of people to be terrorized for money. Dutch would surely kill her if he found out of this.

With book in hand, Celina turned on her heel and snuck off down to the lake. It would work, it had to. She stared out at the body of water for a moment, hoping that the splash wouldn't be enough to wake anyone up but realizing it may be.

With her feet sinking uncomfortably into the mud of the lakes shore, she hunched over the book as she tightly tied a rope around it and the other end she tied around a rock hoping to hold the book to the bottom of the lake with no risk of it being found, no chance of the debtors name's ever being recovered. That, as far as she knew, was the only way to keep Arthur Morgan in good health. With her fingers crossed and a silent prayer, she tossed the rock and book as far as she could into the lake, cringing at the incredibly loud splash and immediately scrabbling whilst still attempting to be quiet to get away from the lake.

It seemed that she had done so rather successfully, not hearing anyone stir at the noise to her surprise. At least it seemed that way based on the fact that she had successfully made her way back to her cott without incident and snuggled back into her blanket with her heart feeling as if it were going to burst straight from her chest. However, the feeling fortunately subsided in time for her to catch a decent nights sleep.

The next morning, however, the feeling was back almost as soon as she came to her senses. She was awoken by the commotion caused by the missing book of those who owed them.

"Then find it, Strauss." Dutch sounded like he was truly struggling to keep his temper under wraps from where Celina sat on her cott, watching the scene unfold up ahead with weary eyes. "It could not have gotten up and walked away."

Arthur nodded his head in agreement from where he stood by Dutch.. being the right-hand-man of his that he truly was, "That's right, it's got to be around here somewhere." From where Celina was, it appeared he was looking around at the group. She swallowed the thick lump which had built in her throat, she needed to go out there and join them all in their confusion before anyone pointed an accusing finger at the one who wasn't there.

She stretched, cracking her back and then took advantage of the attention being off her, getting dressed quickly.

"We turn this camp inside-out until we find that damn book. We've got record of one thousand dollars to collect from those poor fools at the least." His voice fluxuated, cracking here and there like Dutch's voice so oftenly did. "There is no way anyone got into this camp and knew where to look for that book which leaves only one- or two possibilities."

Celina swallowed before approaching the group with feigned confidence, "What's going on?"

Dutch turned his attention to the groggy young lady and sighed, "Either Strauss has gotten careless toward our financial matters or someone last night did something with our book. Either way, we need to find that book and set about collecting our debts."

It was Molly O'Shea who spoke up, to everyone's surprise, "I thought I heard someone moving about last night but I just figured it was one of you guys on watch."

"There was someone on guard duty." It was Arthur who spoke, his words almost coming out in a growl as he turned his attention to Bill who crossed his arms defensively.

"And if it were Arthur on guard when something happened it would have just been 'one of those things'" Bill jeered at him mockingly.

Arthur nodded, not allowing himself to be hooked into an argument with the larger, dumber man, "That's right."

Bill grunted in annoyance but the noise went right past Arthur who had his attention set back on Dutch, "I don't think anyone in camp would have done this, Dutch, what's the point?"

Dutch shook his head, "I do not know my dear boy, I don't know." His tone went back to hopeful, "But we will find it and recover that debt before whoever did this can get their hands on it again."

Celina closed her eyes briefly, She truly hoped they wouldn't be able to find it and hoped throughout the night in the lake the book had already been well and truly ruined. That, unfortunately, was Arthur's only hope.

The group broke apart after Dutch retreated to his tent as each of them set off to begin their search for the missing and valued item. Just as Celina was walking away, she was stopped, "Celina, wait."

She took a deep breath for what felt like the fortieth time that morning, it was unmistakably Dutch's voice coming from his tent. She responded, hoping she sounded as composed as she needed to be, "Right here, Dutch, what do you need."

The leader chuckled, "Come here, dear."

She turned around, seeing that he had stepped just outside his tent, he had the nicest tent there of course, and with reason. She nodded once, "Ok." At that, she approached him, going out of sight of the camp with Dutch back into his tent.

It was her first time being in Dutch's tent and it was... Well, it was really nice to say the least. The man had an actual mattress in the middle of the tent, animal pelts draped over the bed to keep him warm, pillows to ensure his comfort. The record player sat on the beside table he had been gifted with, a few animal pelts serving as carpet. Celina looked over to the barrels along the left hand side of the tent, bottles of alcohol of various sorts sitting atop them. Dutch, was living good, well, as good as he could at the moment.

"So," she made eye contact with the man, once again taking in how much taller he was than her, the top of her head coming up around his chin, "What do you want to talk about?"

Dutch smiled tightly and stared down at her as if he were searching for the secrets she hid within the depths of her soul, "Your motive."

"My-" she pointed to herself and shook her head, "I can't say I know what you're talking about, Dutch."

He lifted a bottle of whisky and popped the cap, his ringed fingers clicking against the glass bottle as he raised it to take a swig, eyebrows raised in interest at her claim. He swallowed before handing the bottle to her and gesturing for her to take a drink. She did so, welcoming the burn of the liquid when she swallowed it and then handed it back to him who carefully sat it down. "I didn't call you out in front of the group but as soon as motive was mentioned, it was clear. No need to lie to me, I'm not going to hurt you, miss. I'm not a monster."

Celina swallowed, she knew he wasn't a monster, he was just a man against the law he thought corrupt, doing his best and trying his hardest to protect and provide for his family. It was almost honorable, despite how wrong it was. Micah hadn't changed him yet, he was still the Dutch people knew and loved. The question was, would be believe her? "Dutch, I think you're-" she shook her head, with the way the man was looking at her, there was no way she could pull the wool over his eyes. Anyway, she needed him to trust her. How someone so sharp and sure of himself was manipulated and fooled by Micah truly beat her, especially in that moment. She sighed and ran her hands through her black hair, diverting her gaze from his and looking at the ground, "Ok," she nodded before looking back up at him with a firm glint in her blue eyes, "I did it." She fidgetted her hands nervously, "But not in spite, and not to go against the gang, but-" she swallowed again, "to help."

He crossed his arms and his brows raised slightly once again in interest. He made no move to interrupt her, but listened as she explained herself, "To help Arthur actually... he- there was the name of a man in that book who was very sick, sick with TB. Arthur would have caught it from him... and it would have, of course, ended up killing him." Her eyes held hope as she studied him for any sort of reaction, she all but pleaded with him to see her side of things, "I've watched Arthur's death once, based on his journal. I couldn't watch it again, not in person- not ever. I know you love him-"

Dutch sighed and took another swig of his whisky. His emotions to what she had told him were unreadable, that was, until he spoke, "Why miss Celina," he chuckled, "You have proven yourself to be a very valuable asset to his gang even if only in this."

...

A/N: I am so very sorry that it took this long to have this chapter posted. You know, real life things getting in the way lol. But here it is and I hope all of you enjoyed it. With the weekend, hopefully I'll have the next chapter posted in the next few days. If you get the chance to leave them, as always, comments about the chapter or story in general will be appreciated. And a question from me, I know how I feel but as far as all of you, would you like to see her end up with Dutch or Arthur at this point? I know there's not much to go by right now.

Also, I do want to throw out there that there will be talk of religion and possibly religious moments in the story since I myself am a Christian and this story is of course going to be about redemption. If it offends anyone, I'm going to write it anyway.

Happy Holidays! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own RDR or anything associated with it.


	7. Chapter 7

Celina was rather taken aback at the acceptance and possibly appreciation in his tone, by it, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She smiled slightly in relief, "Thank you."

Confusion crossed his face at her gratitude, "What're you thinking me for? I should be the one thinking you for looking out for the gang."

She shrugged, "I'm just surprised that you believed me so easily, happy, yes, relieved, yes. But surprised."

Dutch nodded, a small smile crossing his face at her honesty, "You shouldn't be, as long as you stand behind me and give me no reason not to trust you, we won't have a problem. Now, is there anything else you would like to tell me?"

She took a deep breath and poked her head out from the tent to take a look around, "There's a lot that you should know. But I'm still not convinced you're going to exactly hear it all no matter how clearly I feel I'm saying it. Even then, I don't know if I can tell you, I don't know what all it would change and if it would change for the worse or the better."

Dutch's brows furrowed once again in confusion and he gestured to his bed for her to sit, she accepted, finding it rather comfortable. It was then he spoke again, "I think I'm going to listen from someone who has obviously come from the future." He sat down in the wooden chair across from the bed and leaned back in it, grabbing his bottle of whisky and holding it against his leg, "I surely would appreciate if you told me what you know after all," he extended his hands out to the sides, "It sure would make life a lot easier."

Celina smiled slightly and got comfortable on his bed, wondering for just a moment if he had had anyone in it recently and who. She pushed the thought from her mind and held eye contact with the classy looking man for a moment, "I won't say who, but before long, someone in this group is going to betray you and they're going to lead you right into your downfall."

Dutch's eyes widened and he nearly dropped the bottle he was holding, struggling to swallow his mouthful of whisky. He shook his head, forcing the liquid down, "Who?"

Celina laughed despite herself, "I can't tell you now, Dutch but I will tell you that it's not Arthur and that he'll always have your back more than anyone..."

Dutch didn't look like he knew what to say, he had moved to the edge of his seat, his bottle sitting by his feet, "You've got to tell me."

Celina shook her head and swallowed hard, "If I tell you, I will lose my knowledge of what comes next. Would you rather be able to kill or do whatever to the person who probably hasn't yet betrayed you or would you like to act like for me be able to warn you about traps?"

He pushed his tongue to the side of his mouth in thought, "All of this I've been saying to Arthur about doubting me..."

She shook her head, "I never got to know how you were, Dutch, the Journals of Arthur's before this point in time were not recovered and if they were, they didn't make the cut for the video game. One thing is clear though and that is you apparently used to be different, and you've changed. He's worried about you but he wouldn't ever do anything to hurt you or go against you."

Dutch took a deep breath, he hadn't known getting the girl to confess doing away with their book would cause such a deep conversation and surprising relevations... if they were true... if Celina was right, "My boy." He shook his head, "But how do I know you are telling me the truth?" He thought she was being honest but he just... He just didn't know.

It was her turn to sigh rather heavily, "What would I gain in lying to you? Think about it. I'm not even from the same century as you. How would lying to you help me get back home?" She smiled slightly at the perplexed look on his face, "I have seen you fall, Dutch. I don't want to see you fall again any more than I wanted to see Arthur die from TB." She moved forward and reached out to him, grabbing his hand lightly and squeezing it in her own. She continued to talk, both of them looking down at their hands which held one another's loosely, "Please, Dutch. You just have to be careful with who you trust. Use your instinct and don't let yourself be fooled." She squeezed his hand lightly in reassurance, "Please listen to me and let me help you in the only way I can."

Dutch closed his hand around hers a little tighter as well and looked into her eyes for a silent moment before shaking his head and releasing her hand from his grasp. "I..." He stood up, almost visibly shaken but by what, she wasn't quite sure, "I am going to have you go into Valentine with Arthur today, and Uncle, I'm sure they could use the company."

Celina blinked, trying to process what had happened that suddenly had Dutch sending her off with Arthur. She stood up from the bed slowly, "If I-"

He held up his hand to silence her, "Don't you worry about it, miss. You didn't do a thing wrong but you should go into town and enjoy yourself, pick me up a pipe while you're at it. I've been wanting one of those."

Celina nodded, almost awkwardly. His behavior made her almost think she shouldn't have reached out to him the way she had but nonetheless, she didn't attempt to argue. At his command she left the tent, wanting so desperately to look back at the proud leader but not allowing it.

...

Dutch watched silently as the young woman left his tent with a look of disappointment she had tried but failed to disguise. He sighed and twisted one of the rings on his finger in thought. Arthur was worried about him? He groaned, he hated to think the man he thought of as a son, but age-wise more as a brother being worried about him. What was there to be worried about, he hadn't really changed, had he?

He thought back to the girl he killed on that boat and felt shivers run down his spine at his own actions. It was necessary though, he had to make it clear to everyone he was not one to be crossed. He stood there with his eyes squeezed shut tightly, trying to force the memory from his mind. Everyone made mistakes, and he was no different.

If he could go back and change things, of course he would, he wouldn't have lost his temper. Dutch bit into his bottom lip, and shook his head as he felt his blood pressure rising from the events of that terrible day. He had to. He had to.

He walked outside his tent, watching as Arthur helped Celina into the wagon before he, Uncle, Karen, Mary-Beth and Tilly set off to Valentine to see what they could find. Her hand in Arthur's hand as he gave her leverage to climb up made a small surge of jealousy pass through him much to his surprise. He had to say something, anything and he said it to her, "Don't forget my pipe."

Celina nodded from the passengers seat of the wagon, of course she had to sit by Arthur. She was closer to Arthur's age afterall...

"I'll remember," She smiled at him, his mind racing to the moment only minutes ago when she had taken his hand in hers, making a spark he hadn't felt in years surge through seemingly every nerve he had in his body and he meant EVERY nerve.

But betrayal? He waved them off before turning around and going back into his tent. He picked up his bottle of whisky again and took a swig whilst drumming his ringed fingers on the wooden armrest of the chair he sat in. Who would have the nerve or even desire to betray him. He could feel his face heat with anger. If he could figure out who in his gang wanted to witness him hang he should ensure they did so first. It wasn't Arthur, at least that's what Celina had told him and based on the situation she was in, she wouldn't have a reason to lie anyway, and if it was Arthur and she wanted to protect him, why would she let him know about having a rat anyway? No, he shook his head, it couldn't be Arthur, but who?

Unless... no. He grasped the bottle hard enough that his knuckles turned white, even before Celina said anything, he thought Arthur doubted him from time to time but the thought hadn't even crossed his mind that he would betray him.

So... that begged the question, if it wasn't Arthur, who was it? Bill, Micah, Javier... Who? Dutch groaned again. It would be near impossible for him to find out who it was before they even began betraying him. He would have to listen to the girl and trust that she knew what she was talking about and that she well and truly wouldn't let this traitor get the upper hand.

"Dutch!"

He stood up at the sound of his name and took notice of Abbigail approaching, he fought the urge to roll his eyes, he could hardly believe that John had married her, unofficially anyway considering the fact they had all had her, "What is it, Abigail?"

She stood just outside his tent, fiddling her hands nervously, "I- I, John would like to speak to you."

He raised his hands palms up in exasperation, "Are you his messenger now? Why can't he come talk to me himself?"

She stared at the ground, afraid to make eye contact with him, "Well, he-"

Dutch shook his head, "Fine, Abigail-" he snapped, cutting her off. In reality he knew he was being a bit too harsh with the woman but he just couldn't help it, not with everything on his mind. He stood up from his chair and brushed past her, "I'll go talk to him myself."

...

Celina laughed as Karen, Tilly and Mary-Beth sang the 'I met a girl in Berryville' song. That was one thing she didn't care much for from the game although it turned out that in real life, the song did go a bit differently. Still basically though, the same song. So that's what she did, laughed, hoping it sounded truly happy as she really couldn't wait for it to be over.

"I met a girl in Valentine, likes to drink that fancy wine-"

She permitted herself a slightly extended blink, of course they had to sing the song again. Then finally, the singing came to a stop, "My horse, can one of you please help me get my horse back? He's over there," the stranger with the broken wagon pointed across the road to where a white shire horse was wondering around aimlessly.

To everyone's surprise but Celina's, Arthur accepted, hopped down from the wagon and jumped on the runaway horses back, easily bringing it back to its master who seemed to be genuinely eternally grateful, "Oh thank you sir, I don't know what I would have done without you."

Arthur smiled kindly and hopped down from the large horse before scratching it's neck affectionately, "It was no problem, I was just trying to impress the ladies, but glad I could help."

At that, everyone else in the wagon was shocked all over again, no one even attempted to hide it when Arthur climbed back into his seat and urged the horses forward, "You were like a real hero back there!" Mary-Beth teased him playfully, making him chuckle.

"Honestly, if you all weren't here, I probably would have robbed him."

At that, everyone laughed, Celina lightening up enough to truly chuckle as well as they rolled into Valentine.

"Ok," Arthur parked the wagon and turned around in his seat so he could get a good look at everyone, "Uncle and I are going to go into the store and pick up some supplies. You ladies enjoy yourselves and meet us in front of the store when you're ready to go."

Everyone nodded, some 'ok's' being said as everyone climbed out of the wagon. Celina was the last to get out, simply jumping from the wagon with a soft thud. Arthur laughed at that, "If you needed help, you could have asked."

She chuckled at her own actions, "Didn't need it." She looked over to the general store, "I am going to go in the store with the two of you though, see if I can get Dutch a pipe. He was asking for one."

Arthur smiled, "Good ol'Dutch has been asking for a pipe ever since we left Blackwater."

Celina shook her head, "I guess it's about time he gets one then."

The three of them headed into the store after that, Celina successfully purchasing a pipe for the charismatic leader as well as some tobacco to fill it with. She found herself smiling as she looked down at it in her hands after exiting the store.

"Well, I guess we'll wait out here until the girls get back." Arthur sat down on the wooden bench, Uncle sitting to the right of him and Celina taking the empty spot to his left. "Hopefully they won't be too long." He tipped his hat forward so the brim would shade his eyes better from the sun and crossed his arms over his broad chest, tempted to try and get in a little nap.

It seemed just as he was starting to doze off, he was awoken by the sound of Mary-Beth's voice, "So, I just caught word that there's a train with a ton of rich passengers on its way to scarlet meadows. Could you imagine what we could find in baggage?"

Uncle perked up at that, "We can hit that, it's right over by New Hanover, nice and quiet there."

Arthur nodded, "Sounds good to me." He looked around briefly before looking back at Mary-Beth, "Where's Tilly and Karen?"

She sighed, "I think at the hotel, they were picking up some drunken fellers they were going to rob."

Arthur shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, "Why?"

She shrugged, "Seemed easy, they've been gone for quite a while now."

Arthur stood up, "I guess I'll go see if there's any trouble."

...

A/N: There's the next chapter, and thanks for reading! Again, as usual, your thoughts/comments/questions make my day and inspire me to write so send them my way if you would.

I know it was asked how old Celina is, she's 23, the party at the beginning of her story was her 23rd birthday party. Dutch is 42, and Arthur is 36 :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.

Thanks again!


	8. Chapter 8

Celina looked over at Uncle and Mary-Beth as well as Tilly with a smile as Arthur emerged from the hotel with a rattled but fine Karen, "See? I told you guys that I thought she'd be ok."

"Well of course she was going to be ok." Mary-Beth said once Arthur was in earshot, "We had Arthur to save her."

Just as soon as the words left Mary-Beth's mouth, a man rode up to the group, pointing at Arthur and speaking loudly, "Hey, I saw you in Blackwater!"

Arthur took a deep breath and looked up at the man on horseback, shaking his head, "I'm afraid that ain't possible, I wasn't in Blackwater."

"Yes you were, I saw you!"

Arthur groaned and when he stepped forward, the man took off on his horse, galloping away. Arthur looked back at the others, an irritated look on his face, "I better go take care of this, you all go ahead and head back, I'll catch up to you." At that, Arthur jumped on the back of the nearest horse and took off after the man.

Celina looked over at the group with a small smile on her face once again, it was weird to see past events in history play out but she would be lying if she didn't admit it had to be the coolest thing that had ever happened to her.. or anyone- ever.

Karen, Mary-Beth, Tilly, and Uncle all piled back into the wagon, doing what Arthur said and getting ready to head back to camp. Celina though, simply shook her head when they gestured for her to come along, "I'll catch up with you guys, I know the way back. At the least I'll come back with Arthur but there's some unfinished business I need to take care of here first."

Uncle nodded, "Ok miss, suit yourself." At that, he urged the horses forward and through the town. Celina smiled as she watched him leave, she didn't truly have unfinished business there, how could she? All she wanted to do was be there when the bar fight went down, talk about excitement.

She turned on her heel and walked into the saloon, her eyes immediately landing on Javier and Charles who stood by the bar speaking with two prostitutes that Celina was sure to laugh out loud at upon the events that would follow Arthur trying to speak with them. At least... that's how it went by Arthur's journal.

"Hey boys," Celina walked up to them, trying to hide her amused smirk, "Having some fun I see."

Charles chuckled at the her before running his hand along the dark-haired prostitutes arm, "Well, we're trying."

The red-head cackled unattractively as she leaned into Javier flirtatiously, much to his delight, "This one has been trying very hard." She looked up at him and practically purred, "Haven't you?"

His eyes widened and he nodded, making it hard for Celina to supress a laugh, "Ooh yes, very hard."

At that, Celina found herself having to turn away, putting her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. Luckily for the boys, the women either didn't care she was laughing at the interaction before her or didn't notice. Javier though, was another story, staring at her with a look of feigned irritation. She decided to have some fun, after all, it wasn't like she was ruining the boys chances of getting laid.

She shook her head, starring into Javier's dark eyes misceviously and then Charles's before looking to the prostitutes, "I'm sorry if my friends are pushing you into this, neither one of them has been laid in a very long time." She fought to keep a straight face as she saw Javier and Charles's expressions turn worried, "In fact, I walked in on the two of them getting hot and heavy just the other day!"

The women's faces each turned to a mixture of shock, disbelief and amusement as they turned to look up at the men who they had fixed on staying with for the night. Celina tucked her lips into her mouth to keep from laughing and shrugged rather innocently at the glares the men were giving her, "I'm sorry, I just figured that they should know!"

Javier looked like he could strangle her and Charles looked embarrassed, she felt a bit bad for doing that to Charles but Javier's reaction was just gold. He looked down at the red-head, "Do not listen to her, she thinks she's funny, don't you, miss?"

Hearing the threatening tone in the word, 'miss', Celina snickered, "Oh, I think I'm hilarious." At that, she walked away and sat at a table close by, listening to their conversation discretely as she waited on Arthur to make his appearance. She thought bemused that it was probably best she stopped harassing Javier before he actually killed her. That's the company she kept after all, the company of killers fighting for what they believed in- freedom.

That was when Arthur entered the bar, the door of the saloon swinging harshly after he pushed through roughly. Javier wasted no time in waving him over, "Arthur, Arthur, come over here, I want you to meet our friends." He gestured to the prostitutes, making Celina silently snicker again.

Arthur walked over to the four of them, eyeing the ladies up and down, "Pleased to meet you."

The red-head eyed Arthur with intrest, her voice sounding as a seductive coo, "Well aren't you just the tough as teak mountain man?"

The other one spoke then, "Oh be quiet Anastasia, anyone can tell this man right here is a pussyyy cattt." Celina rolled her eyes, they wouldn't be so interested in him here in a minute.

Javier seemed totally enchanted, "Oh he absolutely is a... pussy cat. Isn't that right, Arthur?"

Arthur laughed shortly, "Whatever you say." He eyed the women again with obvious interest, "So, how much do you cost anyway?"

Celina stuck her tongue into the side of her mouth in attempt to contain the laughter she felt building. At once, there was a mutual scoff from the women, the dark haired one voicing her disgust, "That's no way to talk to a lady."

Arthur couldn't help but make a smart retort, "Oh, I didn't know I was talking to a LADY."

That was it, Celina turned her head to see the women stomping off in disbelief and that's precisely when she started laughing, the three men turning their attention to her, irritation clear on their faces but slight amusement in their eyes. Celina stood up and walked over to them, reaching up to throw her arm around Arthur's shoulders, "As a thank you for teaching me how to shoot, maybe I should teach you how to talk to women."

The four of them chuckled, Arthur rolling his eyes. Javier spoke, "I think you should take her up on that, Arthur, you really got a way with the women."

Arthur shook his head as Celina moved her arm from him, "Yea, a regular dandy and charmer." He looked around before asking, "Where's Bill?"

Javier groaned at the thought, "Oh man, I dread to think about it."

As if on cue, Bill bursts through the door, immediately getting up in a guys face and grabbing him by the shirt. It was Charles who spoke as he observed the scene, "Is he about to kiss that guy, or punch him?"

Again, as if on cue, Bill drew his fist back and into his opponents face. Javier laughed, "And we have our answer!"

At once, the entire bar broke out into a fight, Arthur, Javier and Charles quickly throwing themselves into the middle of it. Celina stood back for a moment, not knowing what to do until a man approached her, dangerous intent in his eyes. She cracked her knuckles, starting him down as he approached her, "I would walk away if I were you, buddy."

The man of course, did not do as suggested but instead continued his approach, "What're you going to do about it? Your guys are too busy to protect you."

Celina laughed, "I don't need them to protect me." Just as the man lunged towards her, Celina grabbed a glass beer bottle from the counter of the bar and hit him in the side of the head hard enough to knock him out, break the bottle, and send him falling to the floor.

"Willie!" There was the scared shriek of a woman as she saw the man crumple to the floor and she looked at Celina in hatred, "You bitch!"

Celina smiled smugly and just as the woman reached for her arm, she punched her hard in the center of her stomach, sending her backwards slightly, coughing. To Celina's surprise, the woman didn't back down but rather the injury seemed to fuel her fire. She screamed at her, "I'm gonna kill you!"

At those words, the woman charged forwards, swinging wildly but landing a solid punch here and there. Just as the woman was about to attempt to land another blow, Celina lunged forward, intentionally head-butting her and sending her to the ground.

Straddling her, she took her blonde locks in her hands on either side of her head and smashed her head into the floor, efficiently knocking her out as well. She looked down at the unconscious woman with confidence, her attention taken from her only when she heard slow, heavy footsteps coming down the staircase.

"Tommy, this ain't none of your business, go back upstairs!" One of the men hollered. The large, disgusting man continued down the steps anyway, looking about five times more unappealing than RDR2 had depicted him.

Just as Celina remembered, Tommy barged right into the crowd of fighting men, bee-lining over to where Javier was being ganged up on. Charles yelled out for Arthur to help their friend who immediately made his way over there, hitting the beast named Tommy in the back of his head, efficiently getting his attention off of Javier.

Celina found herself standing there for a moment, just watching as Arthur was picked up and thrown across a table and was able to stand to his feet again and throw a few punches before being thrown out the window.

Everyone else had stopped fighting too at the new scene unfolding before them, many people rushing outside to witness the two full grown men fighting in the muddy road. Celina was amongst them who came out to watch, wanting to see who the victor would be despite knowing Arthur would hand Tommy's head to him on a silver platter.

For anyone who didn't know how the fight would end, it would be pretty intense, a real breath holder. Because of that, she attempted to appear just as scared for Arthur as anyone else who cared about him seemed to be.

The fight was constantly changing as far as who it was who truly had the upper hand, one second it could be Arthur, but then Tommy. Finally, Arthur had Tommy on the ground, punching him repeatedly in his face until he began to loose consciousness. It was a random woman in the crowd who shouted out with fear, "Please stop! You'll kill him, everyone knows who one the fight, stop, please."

That was what brought Arthur to his senses, him landing one final punch on the large man before staggering to his feet and up the steps of the bar, Celina walking right beside him up the steps ready to catch him should he lose his balance.

They were interrupted by a familiar voice, the voice of none other than Trelawny, "Making new friends again I see Arthur."

Dutch chuckled as Celina and Arthur turned around, "Look who I found lurking about, Josiah Trelawny."

Trelawny bowed dramatically, "The very same."

Arthur leaned on the nearest post, smiling at his old friend, "Well I thought you'd gone off to New York."

"And miss all this glamour? You must be joking."

Arthur shook his head, still smiling, "How are you?"

Trelawny's face turned questioning for a second as he realized he didn't recognize Celina. Still, he politely answered Arthur's question before asking one of his own, "Quite well indeed, I went to Blackwater looking for you gentlemen, you're not very popular there it seems." Trelawny turned his attention to Javier, Charles and Bill as they approached, his face lighting up with even more delight, "Ah, Javier and Charles, I missed you... Bill, looking as well as can be. Gentlemen! Always a pleasure."

Dutch chuckled, obviously happy to be in Trelawny's company, "You're right, we ain't too popular in Blackwater."

Arthur attempted to wipe some of the mud from his face, "We left quite a bit of money back there."

Trelawny nodded slowly, "And young Sean, it seems."

Dutch's eyes widened, "Sean, you found him?"

Trelawny nodded again, "Yes, I have. He's being held by some bounty hunters, trying to see how much the government will pay them. I know he's in Blackwater but there's talk of them moving."

Arthur sighed, "If we step in Blackwater, well, we'll be dead men for sure."

Dutch was quiet for a moment, "They'll be Pinkertons all over the place, but... if he's alive, we gotta try."

Arthur took a deep breath before nodding, "Yea, of course."

"It's you they want, Dutch." Trelawny interjected, staring at the leader with concerned eyes.

Dutch huffed in irritation towards the law, "Always is," he went into boss mode then, starting to bark out orders, "Charles, go find out what you can, carefully. Josiah, take Javier. Arthur, go get yourself cleaned up. Celina," He paused for a moment, "You're with me."

Celina was about to say something, acknowledge Dutch's order but Bill cut her off, "What about me?"

Dutch gestured to Bill pointedly, "Exactly, what about you?"

Bill stepped back, looking offended as everyone parted ways as Dutch had instructed, "W-what's that supposed to mean?"

Dutch scoffed again, "Ah, Bill, come on."

Celina couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed, thinking that Bill was going to be riding back to camp with Dutch and herself. Then it hit her, she had been thinking that she wasn't going to be riding back with Dutch in a wagon like she had arrived in... no. She hadn't brought a horse, Dutch and Bill did though, and she definately wasn't riding with Bill. Celina swallowed, watching Dutch mount his horse as he flashed her a charming smile, "Are you coming, miss, or are you going to stand there and gawk at me?"

His voice was teasing but she felt her cheeks flush. She shook her head in denial, "I'm not gawking..." She approached his white steed, accepting his help in mounting the horse and snuggling up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Celina was suddenly grateful that she was sitting behind Dutch so he wouldn't see the red tint to her cheeks at their closeness. She tried to block out how firm and toned the man's body was, how he smelt heavenly, of cologne and cigars, a tint of whisky. His jet black hair contrasted beautifully against the shiny red back of his vest, gleaming in the sun. She took a deep breath against him and closed her eyes, fighting off the coming thoughts. He belonged to Molly O'Shea, wether she liked it or not.

...

A/N: Ok, there's chapter 8! Really looking forward to what you guys have to say about this chapter! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	9. Chapter 9

Celina glanced over her shoulder to where Bill rode a bit of a distance behind herself and Dutch before keeping her voice low to ensure only he could hear her, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Am I sure what is a good idea?"

Celina licked her lips and shifted to a more comfortable position, "Riding into camp like this, Molly-"

Dutch shook his head and laughed, "I'll deal with Molly, unless you'd like to ride with Bill instead?"

She wasted no time in rejecting that suggestion, "No, I'm fine riding with you."

Dutch chuckled, "I really wish you would tell me who my rat is, miss."

She rolled her eyes at his use of the word 'miss' despite her insistence for him not to. She figured it would only be a matter of time before Molly expressed her jealousy towards Dutch's requests for her to be in his company. Truthfully, that was not conflict which Celina wanted to have.

Dutch slowed his horse to a trot as they neared camp, Bill right behind them. Dutch got down first and immediately turned around, lifting his hands up and around Celina's waist, carefully placing the short woman on the ground.

Celina felt as if her heart had almost entirely stopped at her close proximity to possibly the man most wanted by the law... or the man who would become one of the men militar wanted by the law anyway. He practically towered over her, his hot breath hitting her face and putting her stomach in knots. She knew what she wanted, she wanted to kiss him, feel his body pressed-

"Dutch!"

Celina almost groaned as she rolled her eyes and immediately stepped away from Dutch at the sound of Molly's voice. "Dutch! Come over here, I have a surprise for you."

Celina looked over at the Red-head who she knew in the end, stupidity would kill her. She was glaring at Celina from where she stood just outside Dutch's tent, waiting for him. It seemed the jealously was showing it's ugly head sooner than later.

Celina, despite herself, looked back up at Dutch, "Before you see what she's got going on, I also have something for you."

He looked surprised but interested all the same, "Oh, do you now?"

She nodded and reached into her pocket, pulling out a shiny new pipe and then into her other pocket, producing a small bag of tobacco. She smiled almost shyly when he took the things from her, dipping his head in appreciation with a genuine smile of his own, "I appreciate these," he studied the tobacco, "You got me the good stuff." He then made eye contact with her, "Thank you miss."

Celina smiled, feeling a blush heat her cheeks and looked at the ground once again before back to Molly who was looking irritated and then back up at Dutch, "You should probably go and see what Molly wants."

He sighed heavily, his dark eyes searching hers, seeming as if he were looking for something, "I suppose I should before she throws a fit."

Celina forced a laugh and headed off in Strauss's direction when Dutch headed towards Molly to her disappointment, she just needed to assure herself that her anti-Teberculosis plan has worked.

"Strauss!" She called out as she approached him, causing him to look over at her with a small smile.

"Ah, miss Celina, what can I do for you?"

She shook her head and smiled back at him, "Nothing, was just wondering if you had managed to locate your book?"

Strauss sighed, almost making Celina feel bad, almost. After all, his loaning business was his career and she had thrown it out to die, for now at least, "No, it hasn't turned up dear. I'm going to have to start over from scratch, I'm afraid."

Celina tried to match his disappointment, hiding the fact that excitement was building within her that it seemed she had truly saved Arthur's life and possibly changed the fate of the gang for the better already. She treaded lightly, sitting down on the log beside the older man, "So you can't remember anything about anyone who owes you at all? We have nothing to go off of?"

He shook his head, making Celina's heart soar, "No, I'm afraid not. I never figured anything like this would happen. I simply recorded everything about those in my debt in that damn book."

Celina offered a small, sympathetic smile and patted his shoulder reassuringly, "I'll keep an eye out for it for you. Hopefully it'll turn up sooner or later."

...

"Help me, help me!" The man tied to the tree on the outskirts of camp called out desperately, staring at Celina as she walked past him.

She shot him a look after seeing that Arthur was approaching, "Looks like it's too late to help you."

The man's eyes widened in fear as he watched Arthur come closer and closer. He continued to try and plead with Celina, "No, please, help me, speak to them for me!"

Arthur was the one who responded to him, "You've got some speaking to do of your own, about that old gang of yours."

The young man squirmed uncomfortably against the tree, "I said, I told you... I don't know nothing."

Arthur's tone was dry, "That's what I thought."

Everyone's attention turned to Dutch and Bill as they joined them, Celina's gaze lingering on Dutch just a moment too long causing her stomach to tie itself in knots again. Dutch glared at the boy, but addressed Arthur who looked like he was about to give the captive a good beating, "Hold your horses there, Arthur. It seems the cat has got our friends tongue. I was thinking here could have a word."

Bill stepped forward to glare menacingly at the young man, "You ready to talk, boy?"

"I- I told you mister... I told all of ya, I don't know nothing. They ain't no friends of mine. I've just ridden with them for a while."

"Horseshit!" Bill bellowed, "You see, we heard that part, how about you tell the truth?!" He looked to Dutch, "Dutch, what do you want me to do?"

Dutch was growing increasingly agitated at the man's refusal to speak, "Hurt him! So the next time he opens his mouth it'll be to tell us what's going on..." He studied the captive for a moment, "Who am I kidding, one of O'Driscolls boys couldn't open his mouth, but he would tell a lie... screw it, let's just have some fun... geld him."

She had known that was coming, she had played the game and knew it. Still, the tone in Dutch's voice made shivers run down her spine, but oddly, turned her on and excited her. It was wrong, it was so wrong, she made eye contact with him, the look in his dark eyes making her struggle to swallow the lump in her throat.

Bill ran over to grab his weapon of choice, excitement making the large man act giddy. She rolled her eyes, finding it rather disturbing to see the thought about castrating someone make him so happy. The young man's eyes widened as he watched Bill run off, "Where's he going?"

Dutch laughed, acting as if he truly enjoyed this as well, "Oh, don't worry, they're only balls boy, just gonna cause you trouble. You know, in Imperial Rome, euenics were among the happiest and most loyal of courtiers."

"No, no, no, no, no... you're kidding me, right?!"

Dutch chuckled smugly, "Of course."

"You sick bastard!"

Dutch shrugged, and pulled the boy's pants down, making him jump back to the best of his ability, "Well, you are going to talk... the only question now is now, or after we get these little fellers off?"

Bill knelt in front of him with his pliars, making Celina close her eyes tightly, imagining how badly it would hurt should they actually punish him in this method.

He spoke then, to her relief, "Ok, ok, listen! I know where O'Driscoll's holed up, and you're right... He don't like you any more than you like him.. he's at Six Point cabin, I'll take you there, serious. I don't like him, I mean, I like him even less than I like you... no offense."

Dutch seemed pleased, "None taken."

Arthur nodded, "Ok then, partner, why don't you take a few of us up there? Now." He looked over at Dutch, "I've got this, Dutch, should be fun."

Dutch nodded his approval and at that, Arthur cut the captive loose, heading out of camp with him, Bill, and John who had been watching from a distance.

Finding herself standing relatively alone with Dutch as they watched the others leave, she looked back at him, "You were gonna take his balls, huh?"

Dutch chuckled, "It was never gonna come to that." He hesitated for a moment, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, "Why don't we head out for a bit?"

Celina was taken aback by that for a second, in 2018, that could possibly have been him subtly asking her on a date. She blinked before studying him for a second, knowing she really needed to say something before it got weird, "Go out, where?" She sighed and continued before he had the chance to speak, "Dutch, we really shouldn't, didn't you see the way Molly was looking at me? She-"

Dutch laughed, cutting her off, "If I'm being truthful, I'd say I think you're jealous."

Celina shook her head, attempting to deny what she herself knew was true, at least a bit true. "No, I'm not jealous, Dutch. It's just not right, you're with her so whatever this is," she gestured between the two of them, "Us spending time together when you're a taken man, she don't like it, and we need to respect that."

Dutch leaned against the tree which the captive had been tied to, a smug smile on his face, "Celina."

She took another deep breath, "What?"

"I'm only wanting your company in scouting a new location I'm thinking we could set up camp. I wanted you to come with me for a second opinion is all."

She bit down on her tongue, trying not to give in. Trying not to give into his eyes, his voice, his... his anything, "Take Molly." The words were forced, it was all she could do to get them out. She wanted to say more, she wanted to kiss him, wanted to kiss him so badly that every nerve in her body tingled at the thought.

"Molly and I are not exclusive, Celina." He sounded as if there were an edge coming into his tone. "I am free to do as I wish."

Celina raised a brow, "Does she know that?"

Dutch nodded, "She does."

"She acts like you're hers."

"She wants me to be. She loves me, I know she does but I ain't never committed to anything."

Celina shook her head, "Dutch-"

"Come with me."

Celina rolled her eyes, she still felt like it was wrong, to steal Dutch's time away from Molly. But really, if she knew they weren't exclusive, was it so wrong? If she wasn't ok with it, she could leave him. Or, if they weren't exclusive, who was to say that she didn't have someone else herself? Celina sighed, "I'm still not that good at shooting, I don't think I'm the one you'll want to cover you should something go wrong."

He twisted one of the rings on his fingers, a smile tracing his lips, "We'll head out now then."

She nodded, trying to fight the nervousness in her stomach as they made their way over to their horses. It didn't make much sense to her, why he chose her to go along with him with how much of a wanted man he was. She figured that he would need more backup in the case he found trouble while out.

Nonetheless, she mounted her horse. Now, she and Dutch, although they had shared a bunk bed in their own cabin during the first few nights she had been in the group (Which she was sure Molly had been beside herself about), hadn't actually had 'time alone' during their hours awake at least. It would be interesting, Celina figured... to say the least.

"The place really isn't too far out, just further East a bit, just want to check it out and see if it would suit us any better."

She laughed, still not getting the bigger picture, "I still don't know why you invited me to go with you out of everyone else."

Dutch shook his head and urged his white horse forward, Celina following behind him on Arthur's old one, having near a million thoughts racing through her mind. He was the one to break the thickening silence as they turned onto the trail, "How's that horse treating ya?"

She shrugged, patting the horses neck affectionately as it trotted along, "Hasn't caused me any problems so far."

Dutch glanced over his shoulder at her, "He's old."

"Is he?"

He laughed whole-heartedly, "Arthur has had him for a long- and I mean long time. To be honest, I'm surprised the horse hasn't met his death by now, been with us for at least fifteen years I wanna say. Arthur got him young. Caught him straight from his herd and broke him."

Celina's eyes widened, impressed, "And he's letting me ride him?"

Dutch hesitated for a moment, she could almost see him stiffen at her question. Or was that her imagination? He finally answered her question, "Yea, well. I suppose he trusts you not to get a bullet put in him. He was due for a new horse, too."

Celina smiled misceviously as she kept her blue gaze focused on his back. Was he... jealous? After all, he had accused her of being jealous of Molly. At the same time, Celina thought that Dutch would be happy Arthur was still working on teaching her to shoot now and then. Of course, she hoped that she wouldn't ever be put in a situation like that. Not being put in that position though and keeping the company she did, just didn't seem to go hand-in-hand.

Her thoughts drifted back to her life in 2018 when silence fell between the two of them. Her friends... was there any way she would ever get back to them? The thought kept crossing her mind, did 2018 exist anywhere at this point? If so, did she even really want to go back to it, or would she be happy to potentially live out the rest of her days in the Van Der Linde gang? She had to admit, the idea of fighting for freedom with the gang was exciting. If they should achieve it, what would it be like to bask in it with them?

"We're here," Dutch trotted his horse forward a bit more before hopping down from it, Celina doing the same and walking into the clearing with him.

She commented upon looking out at the scenery before them, "It's beautiful."

Dutch nodded, looking down at her, it was clear that he wasn't talking about the land they were to be looking at- but her, "It absolutely is."

Celina looked up at him nervously, feeling the unmistakable feeling of butterflies in her stomach. Suddenly, she felt as though she were in high school, about to have her first kiss, "Dutch-"

Dutch stepped forward slowly, coming to stand right in front of her, he looked down at her with intensity in his eyes. His own eyes were filled with need, desire so strong it practically made his hands shake. One thing for sure, they were sweating. She moved to take a step back but he reached out swiftly, grabbing her arm and pulling into him.

Celina couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her lips as she was forcefully pulled towards him. She couldn't even pull her gaze away from his, anticipating his next move, her skin feeling fiery from the heat of his hand on her arm. The look between the two of them held the very intensity to make her forget to breathe for a second, her heart feeling as if it were frozen with time.

Then it happened, Dutch's lips came crashing down on hers, demandingly, hungrily, in such a primal manner that had her lifting her right hand to weave her fingers through his thick, wavy black hair as she kissed him back just as intensely as he kissed her.

His tongue invaded her mouth, wrestling for dominance with hers, both of them moaning in with pleasure at the sensational feeling. She was guided back until her back was against a tree, Dutch then lifting her legs and taking the hint, she wrapped them around his waist, crying out in pleasure as he ground his hips against hers.

"Dutch!" She couldn't help it, she wanted him, needed him as he continued to rub against her, soaking her to the point she thought he'd be able to feel her wetness through his own pants. He trailed kisses down her neck then, making her tip back her head in pleasure, yelping in ecstasy as he suddenly nipped at her throat.

"D-Dutch, p-please, I-"

Dutch pulled back and smiled charmingly before trailing his hands over her breasts, not breaking eye contact with her, his dark eyes being the most beautiful things she had ever seen. After a moment, his mouth crashed back into hers.

...

A/N: Thank you guys for reading! And this is a longer chapter tonight, hope you liked. Sorry Arthur x Celina supporters! Not saying it's not gonna happen for sure but not in this chapter.

Anyway, what did you guys think? I'm not going to ever actually write the smut but I wanted to establish where Celina and Dutch's relationship is so... :)

But please, thoughts/comments/questions, ALWAYS appreciated. I will try to respond to everyone who leaves a question for me :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	10. Chapter 10

Dutch groaned, buttoning up his vest again, "I reckon we should get back to camp before we're missed."

Ceilina sighed, pulling on her own shirt, "Molly's going to kill me."

Dutch chuckled, "Like I said-"

"I know, I know, you're not 'exclusive'." She couldn't help it, the guilt that immediately started consuming her mind. It wasn't right, in 2018, whether exclusive or not, she would have been hurt to find out someone she loved was with another woman. Now, she went and made herself that woman. "Are you going to tell her?"

Dutch gave her a look as if she were crazy, he laughed and shook his head, "I'm not going to fuel the fire between the two of you. We have enough problems to have her worrying about who I'm with."

Celina bit down on her bottom lip thoughtfully, she didn't want to ruin the enchanted atmosphere between the two of them but she felt like she needed to say what was on her mind and just hope that he would understand. She was silent for a moment, thinking about how to word what she needed to make known. He had picked up on her tension, "What is it that's on your mind?"

She sucked in a deep breath and held it for a moment before exhaling slowly and pointing to the tree which Dutch had had her pinned against, "That, back there, was great... but," she shook her head, "I'm not going to share you, Dutch and I'm surely not going to fight over you. Exclusive or not with Molly, I can't go behind her back like this... it's not right. I got caught up in the moment but that- that wasn't how I, I shouldn't have."

Dutch offered her a small smile, "If that's what you want." She could tell the response was forced, he was trying so hard to do the right thing, say the right thing.

"I won't tell Molly either. I know it was only once, and out of lust... not- not anything else. I won't ask you to choose... that's, that's not right either. But I'm just saying."

Dutch set his jaw, staring ahead intently, trying to keep himself from saying or doing something stupid. He felt as if he couldn't even look at the young woman, "How old are you miss?"

Celina's brows furrowed in confusion, "Twenty-three, why are you asking?" Sure, there was quite the age difference between them, 19 years in reality but on paper, about 138 years.

He was silent for a moment longer, the girl had only been with them for a few weeks but yet he already felt as if she had some hold on him that he couldn't explain. It sounded entirely stupid that he was drawn to her possibly more than he had been drawn to anyone in quite a while. He tried to tell himself no, tried to keep from doing it but he went against himself anyway with the words that followed, "We don't have much money. Right now." He turned around to face her, taking in her small, petite form, "You are so young, you haven't done anything." He scoffed, "You're not on the radar of the law. I can give you enough money to go out, get yourself a life and leave all this behind you. You don't have to live this life, on the run, fighting for your freedom. You can find someone to give you a good honest life- someone who's not a no good killer." Celina attempted to speak but he cut her off, "Or, you can find a way to get back to your life... in 2018."

Celina shook her head, tears threatening to fall down her face, Dutch looked almost panicked at the building tears, "I'm not going to leave you guys. Y- you I haven't been with you guys long but is it stupid that you're becoming like family to be? W-well, my feelings for you are different of course," She chuckled despite herself, "But the rest of the gang, are like family. No-" She shook her head again, "I'm not leaving you, Dutch. I've seen how things could get for all of you and- no. Just no." She wiped away the tears that had fallen, "As long as I'm stuck here, this gang is my freedom."

Dutch's eyes widened at her words, feeling choked up. If anyone had ever told him the honest truth, it was her, "Miss Knoll, I-"

Celina sniffled, "And you're not a no-good killer Dutch..." Her mind flashed forwards to events which could still lead him to his downfall. Reaching out, she took his hand in hers, studying the rings on the fingers of his right hand, "Not yet."

...

It was later in the day, Celina having helped the women with the chores around the camp, speaking with Sadie as they went about their tasks, "No, John's clothes are over there." She pointed to where she had hung his dirty clothes up to dry.

Abigail nodded thanks as she set her sights on the clothes which Celina had pointed to, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Celina smiled at the dark-haired woman.

From where Celina was working, scrubbing clothes clean in the big, sudsy wash bucket, she was close enough to Dutch and Molly's tent to overhear the conversation between he and Arthur. Her heart felt as if it were constricting at the sound of Dutch's voice, she was almost afraid to look at the handsome leader, thinking back to what took place hours earlier and knowing that Molly was probably right inside the tent. Her mind wandered back also to what he had told her, what he had offered her before they had made their trip back.

It had surprised her, his offer to help her get out of their lifestyle before she was stuck in it. That conversation alone had opened up so much more of Dutch than what she would have assumed was there. He had been gentle, caring. Of course, she knew he could be both of those things, he had proven that to everyone several times. But to that extent? That was something. The game had made Dutch seem like he wouldn't acknowledge being a so called 'no-good killer' but he had acknowledged it, well before he reached his worst... and to her. Just that interaction strengthened her hope that he could be saved, even if she wasn't the one who could keep him in the end.

From the corner of her eye, Celina could make out Dutch sitting on the crate he kept right outside his tent, Arthur standing next to him, "When are we heading west?"

Dutch responded, Celina thinking she saw him shrug, "Soon, I don't know."

Arthur sighed, "Feels like things have changed, they don't want folks like us no more, we're being hunted."

Dutch sounded confident, "We are smarter than them, only the feeblist of men take jobs with the government."

Arthur laughed, "I hope so."

The next voice Celina heard was one that made her heart sink, Molly O'Shea's, "Believe it, Mr. Morgan, you have to." Her voice came from inside Dutch's tent, Celina closed her eyes for a moment. It was too much.

"Hey, look, Lenny's back." Sadie pointed at the colored man as he rode in in a hurry. Sadie watched him for another moment, "He looks like something's wrong."

Celina sighed, she wanted to confirm it but knew if she did, she would give away knowing the future. Sometimes keeping it a secret got downright irritating. "Yep, looks like it."

Sadie shook her head, "Why don't you go see what's going on? I can finish up here."

Celina nodded slowly, feeling her heart drop to her stomach, she really wished Sadie would go, or anyone but her to check out what was happening. She considered insisting so but decided against it, no matter how much she didn't want to be around Dutch right now, acting weird would definately tip everyone else off that something was up. She also considered pointing out that they would all find out eventually but bit that thought back too. Looked like she had herself between a rock and hard place in a way.

Feeling as if her body was made of iron, both heavy and hard to move, she made her way quickly over to Lenny once he jumped down from his horse and stopped him before he was quite to his destination of Dutch's tent, she tried to sound as worried as possible, "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"They-" he took a deep breath, gasping for air, "They got Micah." He continued in the direction of Dutch's tent only to be met half-way by the leader, being concerned himself about the condition Lenny had returned in. Arthur followed, concern etched across his own face.

"It's ok, son," Dutch placed his hands comfortingly on his shoulders, "Breathe."

Lenny took another deep breath, "They nearly lynched me. They got Micah in the sheriff's in Strawberry. There's talk of hanging him for murder."

Arthur scoffed, "Here's hoping." Celina laughed and they both earned a look of disapproval from Dutch.

"Arthur." Dutch's tone was one of warning. Making Celina laugh again despite herself and earn another look from Dutch although she swore she could see humor in his eyes.

Arthur shrugged, "What? The fool brought this on himself. You know my feelings about him, Dutch."

Dutch almost sounded offended, "You can't see past his bluster to the heart inside? He's a fine man."

Celina took a deep breath, she couldn't do this. She couldn't stand there and listen to Dutch side with Micah, unaware as to the true colors of the rat. She just couldn't watch him take up for him, doing so broke her heart in more ways than she had imagined. The rat had him blinded, and he was going to slowly start poisoning his mind if he didn't open his eyes to the truth. She would have to tell him and just hope, just pray that she wouldn't be getting anyone killed in the process. But when would she tell him? Surely she had to get him alone... maybe with Arthur and Hosea... should she tell Arthur and Hosea? She took a deep breath, for now, she would have to let them rescue the man she wanted to shoot more than anyone in the world. She decided to drop a hint now, hoping maybe Dutch would pick up on it, "I don't know Dutch, I haven't been with you guys long but I don't exactly trust Micah myself." She shrugged under his assessing eyes, "He just rubs me the wrong way."

Arthur shook his head, "I'm not saving that fool."

Dutch seemed to disregard her hint, "I can't go. My face will be all over West Elizabeth. Please, Arthur, he would do it for you."

Arthur sighed in irritation gesturing in disbelief to the sky, "I don't think he would, but fine. Alright."

Dutch let out a breath of relief, "Arthur, thank you."

Arthur disregarded his thanks and instead turned his attention to Lenny, "Are you ok, Lenny?"

Lenny nodded from where he sat on a log, clearly not seeming ok, "Yea," he assured, "Of course I'm ok."

Arthur cocked his head slightly, "You don't seem ok."

Dutch slicked his hair back, "Obviously the boy's not ok. Take him into town- Valentine, not Strawberry. Get him drunk." When Arthur nodded and Lenny stood up to leave, Dutch cut in again, "And Arthur- no crazy business."

At that, Arthur nodded again. Celina hesitated for a moment, she knew what she wanted to do, she wanted to go with Arthur and Lenny, get really drunk and just forget about Dutch, Micah... Molly... the entire gang for a bit. Even if it meant regret and a killer headache in the morning. She looked over at Dutch, and motioned to the two men, "I think I'm going to head out with them. I need to get my mind off some things."

Dutch hesitated for a moment but nodded, "That's fine with me, they probably should have you go along to keep them out of trouble."

Celina took a deep breath and her eyes darted over to Molly as she made her way out of Dutch's tent. Looking at Dutch and thinking of him having Molly's company in his tent almost made her heart hurt if that were even possible. She shrugged and when she spoke her voice was barely above a whisper, "Have a nice night with Molly."

Dutch studied her for a moment, trying to determine if that was hurt behind her expressionless blue eyes. He felt bad, to say the least. He hated to feel bad but at her comment, he couldn't help it. Finally he just had to defend himself, he wasn't going to open up to a woman and give her his heart, not again. Not after the one woman he had truly loved had been killed before his very eyes by the man he hated most. His heart, Dutch feared, was what he felt Celina may very well be after. He did his best to return her expressionless stare, "I certainly will. Have fun with Arthur."

That was precisely when the facade dropped from the woman's face and he clearly saw hurt. Dutch drew in a deep breath and shook his head, he felt as if he had hurt himself with the comment he had made. He reached out to grab her arm only for her to jerk away from his grasp and mount her horse, refusing to look back at him despite him saying her name twice. He knew she heard him.

Sighing in irritation and feeling truly worthless, Dutch turned on his heel and walked past Molly, jerking away from her just as Celina had from him.

...

A/N: Slightly shorter chapter but at least one's out for today! Hope you guys enjoyed it :) I know a little tension, not a happy chapter but I felt this was needed. They both have to deal with the aftermath and face it, there is going to be some!

Questions, Comments, let me have them please!

Happy Hollidays everyone :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	11. Chapter 11

Celina rode out on her horse behind Arthur and Lenny, listening as Lenny went on about how he and Micah were supposed to be scouting ahead for the gang but Micah kept getting side-tracked. "We were in a bar, drinking, and then-"

Arthur cut him off, "And then he shot someone."

Lenny nodded, "Sure did, you know how he is. I couldn't even tell you how, it happened like the strike of a match."

Celina rolled her eyes but kept her thoughts to herself. Something would have to be done about Micah, and soon. She couldn't sit by and let him turn the gang into the killers they were sure to become under his influence. He couldn't be allowed to get his hooks in Dutch.

Lenny continued, "The law was on us fast too, they were ready to string me up there and then, but I got away. Just barely."

Arthur shook his head in disbelief, "You're alright now. I'll take care of him."

"So you're gonna go get him? I'll come with you."

Celina, if she was being honest with herself, was having one heck of a time keeping her mouth closed about the rat. She knew that Arthur would let it weigh on his conscious how many people he'd kill in Strawberry to get the fool out. It wasn't right- or fair. She couldn't try to get Arthur to disobey Dutch though, not this early. She would need to work on Dutch's impression of Micah for a possible good bit first.

Arthur shut down Lenny's idea of coming with him, "No, leave it to me, for now let's drink something, forget about Micah."

Celina broke the silence that it seemed was going to fall over them, "So are we going to warn Lenny about what went down last time we were here?"

Lenny looked over his shoulder at her as she caught up with the two of them, "What happened last time? Don't tell me none of you all can be trusted in a bar."

Arthur laughed at the boy's concern, "Everything will be alright, last time we were here, a fight broke out." He scoffed, "Of course it was Bill who started it but we kept it clean. No one was killed."

Celina felt rather proud of herself too, "I even knocked a couple people out, not bad for my first bar brawl."

Arthur shot her a look of surprise, "That was your first fight?"

Celina nodded, feeling even more confident, "Yep.. in 1899 anyway."

That made the three of them laugh, Arthur looking over at the young woman again, "With how well you've been doing shooting, I'd say won't be long before you can come robbing some folk with us."

Celina laughed, "I don't think I'd enjoy that so much, Arthur. But thank you for the invite."

...

Celina laughed as she climbed up the steps to the bar and pushed past the saloon doors, "Thanks for letting me come along guys, this will be fun."

Arthur draped his arm over her shoulders and his other over Lenny's shoulders, "It sure will be."

The trio made their way up to the bar, leaning against it as they waited to be attended to. Lenny looked to Arthur for reassurance, "Just a couple, right?"

Arthur nodded, "Just a couple, no big drama." He turned his attention over to the bartender when looked at, "Can we get a few beers please?"

The bartender looked worried, recognizing Arthur and possibly even Celina's faces, "I don't want no trouble."

Arthur shook his head, "You won't get none from me. I was defending myself." He tossed some extra money to the bar tender, "Have one for yourself."

The man looked grateful, "Thank you."

Celina did her best to suppress a giggle, knowing just what kind of crazy was going to go on... or did she? Anyway, she was sure the night would be a good one, one where she didn't have to think about Dutch.

"You know, when me and Micah were out, it really seemed like quite a lot of people knew him. There was a lot of crazy stuff."

Celina rolled her eyes as a disgusting man came up to them and butted into their conversation rudely, "A lot of crazy, crazy, crazy stuff."

Arthur grimaced, "Will you shut up?"

The man seemed to think it funny as he mocked him, "Will you shut up?"

Celina bit down on her lip, Arthur was doing the best he could to keep his temper under wraps, "Be quiet, buddy."

The man laughed, "Oh, they're Dullards! My Lord... you men is dull."

Lenny clearly sensed the tension from Arthur as well, dread filled his voice, "Please, leave us alone"

Nothing seemed to get through his thick, ugly skull, "Leave him alone? Everyone's left me alone for the last ten years."

Just a Arthur seemed like he was about to snap, he stood up and turned to the guy, Celina backing out of the way just incase a punch would follow, "Listen, buddy... you're a charming fellow... one of the best. But me and these two here, are trying to talk business... so could you, possibly leave us alone? No offense intended."

The drunkard spread his arms wide before walking away, "Ain't no pleasing some folk."

Celina let out a sigh of relief before taking another swig of her beer, "Thank God he's gone. For now anyway."

Lenny and Arthur looked over at her with expressions that clearly indicated they were just as relieved as she was. Together, the three of them raised their bottles and clanked them together in cheers. Then, the night began.

*Several beers later*

Celina laid back on the steps with Arthur and Lenny, for once since being sent back in time, not caring in the least about what tomorrow would hold, "You know, Arthur, if I recall correctly, you did say for us to have only a couple beer."

Arthur laughed and looked over at Lenny, his speech becoming a bit slurred, "Ya hear that Lenny? We should really s-stop."

"Oh, Arthur. Ain't no one gonna be worryin bout us just yet. Dutch wanted us to have fun."

Arthur took another swig of his beer, "Copy that."

At the mention of Dutch, Celina struggled to her feet and headed back in the direction of the counter. Arthur called after her, "Where you going, Celina?"

Celina waved him off, struggling to walk straight, "If we're going to mention Dutch, I'm gonna need more beer." Had she meant to indicate something was going on between herself and Dutch? Of course not but in her drunken stupor, why not reveal things she would regret as soon as she were sober?

"Ok," It seemed to go over Lenny's head for the time-being at the least, "Get us another."

Celina, finally reaching the bar, leaned against it heavily, "Three more beer please."

The man looked leery to fulfill her request but nodded, handing her three more bottles in exchange for money. When she turned back around with the beverages, she saw that neither Arthur nor Lenny were where she last left them. She looked around in confusion, her vision beginning to blur, "Arthur? Lenny? Where are you?"

She staggered over to a stranger, "Have you seen my friends?"

The man shook his head, "No miss, but a young lady like you has no business being drunk alone like you are."

Celina waved him off, "I've gotta find my friends." She laid her hand on another random stranger, "Ma'am, could you tell me where my friends went?"

The lady scoffed, "Don't ask me."

She staggered away from the woman, looking up at the balcony and seeing Arthur and Lenny up there, a glass falling from Lenny's head and crashing to the ground, shattering everywhere. There was a moment of shock before the three of them burst out laughing, disregarding anyone around them.

Celina pushed her way up the stairs past anyone coming down them, "Have to get to my friends, sc'use me."

Finally, to the dismay of everyone she had shoved out of the way to get to Arthur and Lenny, she arrived to them, "Arthur!" She stared up at him in adoration, "There you are you stupid, handsome man." She looked over to Lenny, her tone excited as she handed both of them a beer, "Lenny! It's good to see you alive."

Arthur and Lenny didn't say anything, neither of them being much smarter than the woman in their current state. The three of them once again raised their beer and clinked them together.

Celina took another swig, almost tipping over as she leaned back only to be caught by Arthur at the last second, sending them both falling to the floor clumsily, beer spilling all over the place making Lenny laugh hysterically. Arthur and Celina joining until they had realized what had happened to their beverage of the night.

The woman stared at her empty bottle in disdain, her voice whiny, "My beer."

* A few beer later, laughing at piano man*

"That's great!" Arthur leaned against the piano heavily as he listened to the man play.

Celina, on the other hand, sat down at the piano with the musician, "Sounds great, you just need a little.." She began to press the keys of the piano, it sounding great in her mind and earning Arthur's approval when in reality, of course, her input was entirely ruining the song.

The man finally stopped playing and stood up, looking at Celina and Arthur with great irritation, "You two go along with your night. I'm trying to do business here."

Celina looked up at Arthur in shock, "He's mad!"

Arthur grabbed Celina and pulled her away from the piano and man who's patience was being pushed to the limit, "We need to find Lenny."

Celina's eyes widened, "Lenny's not here!?"

"No, Lenny is missing, help me look for him." Arthur wandered off in one direction, pushing the young woman in the other direction not too gently.

Celina stood there in the middle of the bar, "Lenny?! Where are you Lenny?" Arthur calling out for him as well just barely registered in her mind as she began relying on total strangers once more except this time to find only Lenny, "Where's Lenny?" She questioned an older man before getting totally blown off.

She stumbled away before approaching another young woman, "Have you seen Lenny?"

"How would I know who Lenny is?"

Celina opened her mouth to try to describe Lenny but was cut off by Arthur's loud mouth, "I found Lenny!"

Celina shook her head at the woman who she had been talking to, "He found Lenny."

"Lenny!" Celina greeted joyfully as she approached he and Arthur who were once again upstairs, "You are hard to keep track of."

Lenny turned to Arthur, "Why weren't you ever married, Arthur?"

Arthur shrugged, "Wouldn't have me."

Celina chimed in despite herself, "I think M-molly wants to marry D- Dutch." She swayed as she held up her beer bottle dramatically, spilling some of the liquid onto the carpet, "S-she can't have him. No she-"

A prostitute walked up to the three of them, eyeing Arthur up and down and then Lenny as if deciding who would be easier to cheat out of money. Before she could get much more than a word out, Celina stepped towards the red-head, "You get out of here, Molly." Only, her words were so slurred by that point that it was hard to make out what it was she was trying to say, "I'll shoot you right in the head if you don't leave him alone-" she took a step forwards, trying to swing at the woman but missed when arms wrapped around her, pulling her back and allowing the prostitute to quickly hurry away.

...

"There he is!" Celina pointed from the balcony to where Lenny stood on the bar, doing some... what looked like may have been dancing as strangers yelled at him to get down from there.

It had to have been a funny, no- hilarious sight to see one of the toughest cowboys of the century staggering down the steps with Celina equally as drunk, them both trying to support one another despite them both looking as if they would fall over at any second.

The who of them attempted to get to their friend, the crowd which was gathered around the bar making it more difficult than either of them were willing to tolerate. "Outta my way," Arthur grumbled as they continued to push their way through people.

Instead of moving out of the way as demanded, the man turned around to face Arthur, "Who do you think you're talking to?" He got up in Arthur's face, looking ready to fight.

Arthur pushed him back, "No one, I ain't talking to no one." The man shoved Arthur back and Arthur shoved him again, and then before Celina could really comprehend what was going on, Arthur grabbed her and pulled her into a group. Everyone put their arms around one another and again, before anything made since, they were line-dancing.

...

"Ah, there you are, Lenny!" Arthur said as he approached someone who Celina had agreed most definately looked like Lenny. Apparently though, they were not Lenny, that surprised both of them because despite the person having an offended feminine voice, they surely did look so much like Lenny.

Celina pointed over to where Lenny stood at the bar, "There he is!" Celina stumbled over to him, the room swirling around her, "Lenny, you've had enough, lets go."

The man turned around and looked at her and Arthur in disbelief, "How much have the two of you had to drink? Go home."

Celina backed away as did Arthur, "Where's Lenny? Lenny!"

It was Arthur's turn to point, "There he is!"

Together, they started towards the man they had pinpointed as their friend only to have someone else who oddly looked just like Lenny come up and slap Arthur across the face, "What are you doing Arthur?!"

Arthur stood there dazed for a moment before slapping him back, Celina watching as the two of them stood there slapping one another like idiots. Then, she herself reached out and slapped the both of them, taking delight in the look of shock and hurt on both of their faces. They were big babies, the both of them.

...

Celina woke up, slowly but surely, her head throbbing. She looked around in confusion at her surroundings before realizing where she was- the sheriff's. Arthur and Lenny were in the cell beside hers, just waking up as well.

She squinted at her two friends, her memory from the night before not much more than a blur, "What did we do last night?"

Arthur groaned, "Hell if I remember."

The sheriff chuckled as he approached the cells, "You were all brought in last night for drunk and disorderly conduct... fifteen dollars and you're free to go."

The three of them nodded and dug through their pockets, all producing adequate money and handing it to the sheriff. It sure had been a night.

...

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! ? Hope everyone's day is going well and here's chapter 11.

Questions/Comments? Shared thoughts are always appreciated and gotta say this chapter was fun to write!

Can't wait to get to the parts of the story with more action. What would you guys like to see happen?

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm just saying, if we're going to have a party, I don't think I should be trusted with the beer... and Arthur and Lenny should probably be limited too." Celina admitted with a slight shrug of her shoulders. She stood before Dutch, speaking to him more than she probably had in the last few days. She needed a break from being around him so much and because of that, she had been spending quite a bit of time away from camp, out riding mostly but hitting up some towns for fun non-robbery style. It had been nice.

She remembered that night of drinking with Lenny and Arthur, the details becoming more and more clear over the last couple days. She was, nonetheless scared to put herself in such a vulnerable state in front of the whole group.. afraid that she would accidentally reveal she and Dutch had had sex earlier that week and cause unneeded tension with Molly.

Sure, she was jealous of the woman to the point she thought she'd lose her self control every time she saw them together. But- she had managed to keep her cool. She could suck it up, she could do it. However, under the influence of a beer too many, she wasn't so confident with her self-control.

Heck, in that bar a few nights ago with Lenny and Arthur, she had all but admitted to being completely taken by the charismatic leader. It was wishful thinking that Lenny and Arthur hadn't remembered what she said. Maybe they did though... either way, neither of them even attempted to comment on it.

Dutch looked amused as he stood just outside of her tent, Celina sitting on her cott, half-wishing he would go away, "What exactly went on in Valentine? No one quite filled me in." He rolled his cigar between his fingers, eyeing her with interest.

The woman shrugged, not feeling all too interested in telling Dutch how much reckless fun the three of them had had, "We drank, too much... talked, didn't think about any of our problems. Got arrested for being drunk and disorderly. Woke up the next morning and here we are."

He looked like he wanted more information, like he truly wanted to make conversation. The idea made Celina scoff for no apparent reason to anyone but herself, it was about time the son of a bitch tried to talk to her. Too little, too late. Was she being overly hard on him? Maybe. But it was easier this way, if she couldn't have him to herself, it was better this way. All Dutch had to do was leave Molly, and she figured he would if he felt the way she did. That, however, was clearly not the case. She attempted to change the subject, "So, Arthur busted Micah from jail and saved Sean... are we going to have this party, or not?"

Dutch took a hit from his cigar and slowly exhaled while nodding, "I think so, miss. I've just sent John into town to pick up some supplies in preparation for it. I do wish Micah would find his balls and come back."

Celina rolled her eyes at the mention of Micah, "Dutch-" she cut herself off and shook her head, deciding against what she had thought to say. At that, she stood up and smoothed down her freshly cleaned shirt, "I think I'm going to go and meet up with John, maybe Lenny will go with me."

Dutch raised a brow, "I was going to ask you to help the ladies set up for the party."

She shrugged yet again before looking in her small mirror by the cott and tying her dark hair back, "I don't care what you were going to do, Dutch. I don't care what you want me to do. As far as I'm concerned, you have no authority over me."

He took a step back in surprise at her attitude, "What's what supposed to mean?"

She spun around on her heel and looked up at him with fire in her blue eyes, "I'm not here for you Dutch. I'm here because I love everyone else here. Heck, right now, I even like Bill more than you!" Her tone was a whisper-shout. She felt her hands began to shake and her face becoming hot.

Dutch stepped forwards, a fire now alight in his eyes as well, "You need to calm down." He pointed at the ground demandingly as he ordered her to cool her temper.

Celina shook her head, "No, I won't calm down. You know why I like Bill more than you, Dutch? Because be never fucked me and threw it in my face that I would never be more than just a nice pussy to him. He never threw it in my face that he was going to continue to fuck and keep company with precious Molly O'Shea who he liked too much to leave but yet not enough to be exclusive with, not even to take a chance with someone who truly cared about him. He didn't know he hurt me but was still inconsiderate enough to have sex with Molly the next night to the point I could hear it!" She kept going, seeing that she seemed to be getting through to him at least a bit. She couldn't help it, she had opened her mouth to say a bit and kept letting more and more out. "He didn't do those things to me, Dutch. That was you." She pointed at him angrily, "He didn't charm me into giving him what he wanted only to throw it in my face that he didn't care how I felt."

Dutch held up his hand in attempt to silence her, his own voice shaking as it often did at emotion, "I never knew things were like that- shit." He glanced at the ground, shifting his weight almost nervously, "Look, I-"

"-No, you look, Dutch." Her words were firm and final, "I should have never expected anything from you. You looked at me like-" She shook her head again, "Nevermind. I'm going into Valentine." She walked past him, "I'll see you later. Maybe I'll hook up with one of your boys."

...

"I don't know, John." Celina sighed, "This beer... I mean, it isn't real cheap if we're going to buy as much of it as everyone wants." She ran her hands through her hair, "I just feel that it could be spent better. Let's just get enough for the party?"

John was quiet for a moment before leaning down and whispering in her ear, "I heard tale of a wagon heading this way soon- full of beer. How would you feel about seeing that it never arrives?"

Celina jaw dropped at the proposition, her eyes widened. Was he really suggesting what she thought he was? With her? She looked up at him, "Are you saying?"

John nodded slowly, "I'm asking. Arthur said you were getting good with a gun- not that anyone needs to get hurt. And if we catch it before it comes into town, no one should catch us. No trouble."

Celina chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, she never found the idea of robbing anyone appealing... but... She found herself nodding, "Ok, we'll do it."

...

"Pull your banana up and stay here, don't want us being recognized just in case. They should be coming through here in a few minutes." John peered out from the trees they were using for cover, "I'm going to go hide on the other side of the road. Hopefully these fools won't be armed."

Celina swallowed, "And if they are?"

John grimaced, "Either they can back down or we'll-" he stopped at the nervous look on her face, "I'll take care of them... ride out when you hear me inform them that they're being robbed and we can go from there.

Celina nodded despite her rapidly beating heart making her want to back out and tell John that her coming along was a mistake, "Ok," she swallowed and took a deep breath in attempt to calm herself, "Sounds like a plan. Let's do this."

John nodded before trotting off on his horse to the trees on the other side of the road. Celina took another deep breath, looking through the trees on her side and down the road in the direction the wagon of booze was said to be coming from. She was doing this, she had to do it now since John was relying on her. She was committing her first robbery and she felt a bit sick to her stomach thinking about it. The thing that truly concerned her, however, was that part of her was excited to see how all of this would go down.

Before long, the wagon was in sight, luckily, at least from a distance, it looked like there was only one man in charge of it. She laughed a bit, that was a stupid idea, traveling alone with items which one like John and apparently, herself, would steal.

Once in sight, the wagon came closer and closer to the two of them quickly, John riding out from the trees just as the wagon passed him, the horses hooves pounding hard against the dirt road to catch up to the front of the wagon, "This is a robbery! Please stop the wagon and put your hands up!"

At those words, Celina bust through the trees on her steed as well, gun in hand, galloping to catch up to John and the driver.

"Please mister," The middle-aged man begged, "I don't have no money, only beer. That won't do folk like you much good."

"Oh we know exactly what you have, and it'll do us plenty good." John trained his weapon on the man as did Celina, still riding their horses at a canter, "Now do what we say and no bloodshed will be necessary."

Reluctantly, the man slowed his two shire horses to a stop and climbed out of the wagon at gun point, walking to the side of the road as John guided him to do. John nodded his approval at the man's obedience, "Good, see? As simple as that." He climbed down from his horse and up into the wagon, Celina following his lead and doing the same.

She looked back at the shaken man as John drove the horses forward, leaving the guy without a clear method of transportation back home. She sighed and lowered her bandana, as did John, "Don't you ever feel bad? Stealing things from people like that?"

The outlaw shook his head, "Not for a real long time." He glanced over at her, "I know that was your first robbery, how do you feel?"

She raised herself up in her seat to take a look at the many of cases of beer in the back, sarcasm winning out, "Like our party is going to end with us all getting black-out drunk."

He laughed at her comment, "Really though, are you feeling ok?"

She shrugged, "I think I'm alright, I mean, I feel bad, poor fool. It could have been worse though, you could have shot him."

John laughed again, "One thing about us, Celina, we do our best not to kill innocents. I'm pretty sure Dutch would beat me himself if I would've killed that man without any absolute reason."

Celina wanted to change the subject away from the leader but couldn't quite bring herself to do so, not at the perfect opportunity to ask some questions, "Is Dutch really against killing innocents?" She thought she knew the answer as yes, she hoped she was right and secretly crossed her fingers for that belief to be confirmed.

"Well, yea." John answered, nodding. "Dutch hasn't ever liked the killing... He really isn't a terribly violent guy... just greedy, not a killer. Even then, we usually only rob the people who's robbed others, it's not really stealing if something's already stolen."

Celina nodded back at him too, taking a moment to admire the scenery around them, new leaves beginning to grow on the trees after the harsh winter, "What about on the boat?"

John took a deep breath, "I don't know what got into Dutch on the boat. It's likely he just snapped if he killed an innocent like that, or maybe it was an accident."

She tucked her lips into her mouth and made a popping noise, "Do you think it had anything to do with that Micah guy? I mean, don't get be wrong, I have barely spoken to Micah but from what I heard, and from what Arthur's told me, I really don't have a good feeling about him."

John took a deep breath, "Neither do I, but I suppose time will tell what he's all about."

She refused to look back over at the cowboy but instead kept her gaze fixed on the opposite direction, staring at the scenery as she had so often done in the time of cars as they made their way back to camp.

...

"Well, well, well, look at what you guys have managed to drag in!" Dutch spread his arms in greeting as he walked up to John and Celina getting down from the wagon, Arthur at Dutch's side, approaching them as well. The question came from Dutch, "What do you guys have in store for us?"

"Beer, lots of it," John made his way to the back of the wagon, he and Celina each grabbing a case of beer and carrying it around front, "Wouldn't have been successful in stealing this lot of it weren't for Celina, caught it before it reached Valentine."

Dutch crossed his arms, looking impressed as he looked at Celina who wouldn't make eye contact with him, "Well is that so?"

Celina nodded, following John and sitting her case of beer on the same table as he set his, "That's me, the lean, mean, robbing machine."

Arthur laughed and waved the girl off when she started to walk back to the wagon for more, "I've got it, you go sit down. You've done enough for today."

Celina offered the cowboy a small smile in thanks, "Thanks Arthur, I'll do that." At that, she walked back over to the table and grabbed herself a beer, before opening it swiftly and taking a swig from it, all the while finally making eye contact with Dutch who looked surprised.

"I thought you said you were going to be staying away from the beer tonight, miss Knoll?"

Celina shrugged before swallowing, "To hell with it. I'm going to see where the night takes me."

...

A/N: And there's chapter 12! Some one-on-one time with John, she blew up on Dutch and committed her first robbery, trying to get things even more exciting from here. May seem like it's moving slow but goodness, I want to make things as detailed and in-depth as possible!

So, what are your thoughts on this chapter and as usual, what would you like to see?

Any ideas or hopes for what the party in this next coming chapter will hold?

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	13. Chapter 13

"Just one more." Celina stood up from the log she had been sitting on next to Lenny as everyone sat around talking amongst one another and enjoying the abundant beer which she and John had proudly brought back. She stepped over the log, nearly tripping and landing on her face but luckily finding her balance just in time to prevent the fall.

The night was still young, the sun having just started to set, everyone loosening up to the point John was getting nervous that Bill and Arthur were going to finally get into a fight. The story telling had brought up Arthur's, "Just one of those things" excuses which had rubbed Bill the wrong way drunk even more than sober. That tension had luckily died down but no one was convinced it couldn't or wouldn't come back easily.

Celina sighed as she removed a beer from the crate by Dutch's tent and leaned back to take a good swig of it. She was getting drunk- again, for the second time that week. Really, before, she hadn't been a whole lot of a drinker. Now though, considering the year she was in and the company she kept... and loved? Yes, she did love them, but sometimes to deal, she just had to get drunk.

The woman had secretly admitted to herself after only a week or two, she wasn't going to be going back home. She had actually came to that acceptance before she threw their record of debtors into the lake. She realized she wasn't going home both because she didn't know how, and... despite herself, she didn't truly want to. It was strange, but deep in her gut, she felt like this was where she belonged, with this gang. They were her freedom, as odd as it sounded to say so.

Dutch approached her, of course Dutch approached her. He looked a little drunken himself as he reached for another beer and dipped his head in greeting, "Miss Knoll, see you're enjoying yourself."

Celina took a deep breath and nodded, taking another drink, "This party was a good idea, Dutch. Thank you."

He smiled warmly and looked back over to where Molly was sitting talking with everyone at the campfire, "I was hoping you would benefit in it." He hesitated, rocking back on his feet and taking another swig, his rings clicking against the glass in the way that Celina loved so much for some reason or another. He looked her up and down for a moment, his eyes almost showing guilt, "I can't leave Molly."

Celina's eyes widened and she took a step back before glancing over at the group. He couldn't leave Molly? What was he saying? She grabbed his arm and led him back to where her tent was located, a good enough distance away to keep them from being heard, "I never asked you to leave her, Dutch."

Dutch crossed his arms and looked down at her, "I have enough experience with women to know when I'm subtly being asked to do something."

Celina wanted to argue, wanted to defuse his belief of her desire but shook her head, there was no use. She sighed and tapped her foot on the ground, "I know how I've been acting lately... I know I blew up on you earlier today. But-" she scoffed, gesturing back in the direction of Molly, "I care, Dutch-" She took another drink, hoping the alcohol would quickly work to change her mind about opening up to him, "I think I may- I think I may l-love you." The statement came out as more of a question than a statement, but nonetheless, she continued, not letting Dutch butt in, "I might. It wouldn't have been from only the time I've spent here, but from before, with Red Dead Redemption also. I know you Dutch. I know how you're going to react to things before even you do. I know what you're going to be going through and I love you dammit."

"-I-"

"-No, let me finish." Her voice was strong enough to keep him from speaking over her, "People, when they think of you, a lot of them either do... or will think of you as a monster." She dropped the empty bottle nonchalantly on the ground. "I, I see-" she put her hand over his chest, "I see the heart, Dutch." She took a deep breath, part of her wanting to shut up and go back for more beer, "I see the heart of a man who was put through way too much. I see someone who truly stands for something- for you, freedom. You stand for it and for it, you're willing to fight. I see a strong, free-spirited man who although is misled, does what he believes is right and is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his family, his gang." She teared up and sniffled just thinking about what lied ahead, "I see a strong, almost honorable man turned bad and driven to the point of madness when he could have had so much better."

Dutch went to take a drink too, only to find that his bottle was empty as well. In his state of mind, he wasn't going to even attempt to decipher all she was telling him regarding the future, "Celina, I-"

Despite herself, the young woman raised to her tip-toes and placed a gentle kiss on the leaders lips. She needed to feel his touch, to believe he could be hers and that she could save him and that everything would be alright. He had hurt her, but from the way he kissed her back, she could tell that he knew he had, for now, that was good enough for her.

His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her in closer to him, her hands traveling up to tangle her fingers in his hair. It was perfect, and then-

"Dutch?!"

They both froze before pulling away hastily. Celina feeling as if her heart had stopped all together at the found of Molly O'Shea's broken voice. They had been caught, it was stupid. Of course she had known it was stupid to have a conversation to the likes of the one that they had had so close to the group... so close to Molly. It was of course even more incredibly stupid for her to go and kiss him.

"Molly- I-"

Dutch didn't get out what he had to say before Molly landed a hard slap against his cheek, "You bastard! I loved you, I love you and you- this is what you do to me? I knew there was something going on!"

Tears filled Molly's eyes, making Celina feel a pang of guilt, she attempted to take the heat off Dutch, "Molly, please, just listen-"

"No! You listen, bitch! I didn't uproot myself f-f-from my home just to... Just to have you s-s-steal him!"

Dutch took a deep breath, trying to block out the rest of the gang who had gathered around to see what the commotion was all about, "We were never exclusive, Molly."

Celina closed her eyes tightly, she didn't believe now was the best time for Dutch to say something like that, but- "You!" Molly stepped towards Celina and pointed an accusing finger at her, "You knew how I felt about him, it's obvious! And you are trying to steal him anyway!" She looked back over to Dutch, her voice cracking, "How dare you!" What Dutch had stated seemed to go over her head by a mile.

Celina took a deep breath again, trying to arrange her thoughts, "Molly, please-" she was cut off by Molly slapping her across the face just as she had done Dutch. Celina raised her hand to her face and stepped back, "Let's not do this, I don't-" Molly stepped forward again and slapped her once more, causing her to take another step back and shake her head, "I don't want to fight you, Molly. Please." No one in the gang was willing to get involved just yet out of curiosity of what would happen. Arthur looked on edge but Charles and Javier gently restrained him.

Molly landed another slap against Celina's face which was both redenned by impact and her rising temper, "Molly, I'm really trying-" She struck another slap across Celina's face, finally reaching the limit.

Celina shoved the red-head woman back, hard, almost sending her to the ground and followed after her, landing a right-hook on her jaw. Molly caught herself from falling and went to grab Celina's hair. To prevent the other woman from gaining leverage, she kneed her forcefully and directly in the stomach, sending the red-head to the ground on her back.

Celina straddled the woman just as Dutch rushed forward along with Arthur, Charles and Abigail. Before she could be reached, she had managed to land a couple harsh blows to Molly's face, finally getting off her just before Dutch drug her from her. As she stood up, Celina looked out at the shocked group, "You all saw what happened, I wasn't gonna hit her-she insisted!"

Everyone still looked too shocked to do anything other than Dutch who walked away, pinching his nose and shaking his head back to his tent. It sure had been some party, maybe the last party he would be hosting for the gang.

Charles picked Molly up bridal style considering she was almost unconscious and carried her away to lay her down somewhere.

As for Celina, she was being escorted by Arthur back to her own tent, her shirt splattered with blood that was proudly none of her own. She looked up at Arthur who had a bit of a smirk on his face, "Are you sure the two of us aren't related?"

Celina shrugged and laughed, "We very well could be some way, some how."

Arthur laughed back at her and upon reaching her tent, sat down on her cott beside her, watching as she attempted to clean the few splatters of blood from her face. "So, Dutch, huh?"

Celina hesitated for a moment before nodding almost awkwardly, "Yea, Dutch... there's just." She laughed humorlessly, "I'm just so romantically drawn to him, it's crazy."

"Yeah," He sighed, "I've felt that way before- Mary..."

She patted his leg comfortingly, she knew all about Mary, "Yea, I know about Mary, Arthur... my honest opinion, she isn't worth your time. If you really want her, now, after all of this? Well, that's on you but you need to remember what she put you through the first time you let her in. Do you want to risk that again?"

Arthur fidgetted with his hands thoughtfully, "I don't think I could live a life outside of this one. I don't think it would be enough for me."

Celina shrugged, "I think you would be fine living a rather civilized life. Maybe not with her, but with someone else."

Arthur chuckled, "Like who? Is that what you're planning for you and Dutch? Owning a nice little homestead out west? Raising pigs and growing corn?"

Celina laughed at the idea of Dutch being a farmer and living a civilized life, not surprising herself to find the idea rather appealing, "It's a pretty picture, but I don't know. Ever since I got ripped out of 2018, so much of my mentality has changed."

Arthur raised a brow, "How so?"

"I used do hate the idea of robbing, still hope I won't have to kill no one but... I mean, I was against it. Thought it was just wrong and that's not how things should be. In 2018's society, those things I suppose really shouldn't happen... but then I come here." She gestured around the camp, "It's 1899 for crying out loud and I'm not so concerned anymore as to what people should or shouldn't be doing. Don't feel like robbing and killing are out of the norm at all, heck, I feel like it's normal. It's life! I feel like if it's not us committing crimes, it's only gonna be someone else that steals from or kills someone. I feel like everything that we are led to do is just the story life has laid out for us... just the way things were always meant to go. I don't necessarily feel like what we're, or you guys are doing is wrong... just things that were set to happen. By that, I'm not sure anything can be changed from how the ending is supposed to be... for anyone." She met Arthur's gaze, "I'm not saying that we should stab eachother in the back and do things just for the sake of doing them. That, I'm sure would mess things up. I just feel like each of us needs to do whatever feels right in our hearts, for our own story and do everything we can to get to where we feel called to be. Everything will be fine."

Arthur was quiet for a moment. He took off his gamblers hat and set it on his knee, "I've got to say, that sounds like something Dutch would say, in less words though."

Celina laughed, "It does. But Dutch- Dutch isn't wrong." She swallowed, "Not now at least, and he will need everyone's help, not just mine, to stay on the right path for himself." She darted her tongue across her lips, "Arthur, in my heart, my dream is that all of us can be free together, away from all of this. That's my goal, that's what I'm willing to fight for, that's what I'm willing to die for. All of us, alive, and twenty years from now, together."

...

A/N: There's the thirteenth chapter! Please let me know what you are thinking so far. Everything? Anything? Throw it on out there.

Have a great day everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	14. Chapter 14

Celina sat up in her cott, wide awake having not yet fallen asleep after the party and hearing Arthur and John's voices right outside of her tent. She rolled her eyes at the men, "What're the two of you blabbering on about? The party is over, time to get to sleep like the rest of us."

They looked over at her, through the falling darkness, she could make out the apologetic looks on their faces. It was John who spoke, "Uncle told me about a train. I already told Arthur about it having rich passengers. It's rolling through scarlet meadows just south of the state border."

Celina nodded, "Yea, I was in Valentine when Mary-Beth told us about that."

John looked surprised and back at Arthur who had been thoughtfully standing silent, "Why didn't you say something about it sooner?"

Arthur shrugged, "I just ain't sure about doing it."

"Common, it'll be at night, not too guarded, it'll be perfect." John turned his attention back to Celina, "What do you think?"

"Well..." She tried to remember as much as she could about the train robbery but it seemed that was something that was unfortunately a blur to her. She could of course though, surely affirm no one would likely get killed doing it. She nodded her approval, "I think it sounds good."

John looked excited, "So does that mean you're in?"

"Does that mean I'm in?" She looked taken aback for a brief moment, looking at him wide-eyed, "I wasn't saying that it sounded good because I wanted in.. I just meant it sounded like a good take for you guys. I stole beer, John... robbing a train doesn't seem like the logical next step."

John chuckled but it was Arthur who spoke, "Common now, what was that back in your tent about if it's not us, it'll be someone else doing it?"

Celina took a deep breath, "I meant it'll be someone else robbing and killing in general, not robbing or killing a specific person... place, or train. I just meant that even if we didn't do it, things of the sort would still be happening somewhere to someone at some point- Arthur." She glared at him, "I'm much too tired and tipsy to explain to you my philosophical beliefs. Quit trying to get me going."

Arthur laughed, "So you're admitting that we do doom people who wouldn't otherwise be doomed."

She rolled her eyes, trying to think of how she felt about that question. They were so off topic. She hated when Arthur found humor in making her think almost outside of the box. She took a deep breath, "Yes, we ruin and take people's lives even if no one else would have, Arthur. Quit making me feel bad. Making me feel like a nut case. We're bad people, just following the road life's set before us. Screw off."

Arthur laughed and John just looked generally and totally confused, "Ok... the point in this is?"

Arthur looked proud of himself, "Ask her now."

Still looking confused, John looked back over at Celina, "Do you for some reason want to come with us now?"

She took a deep breath, shooting Arthur a glare. He had taken a chance trying to get her to think like them and accept her role in the world. He had made her open her eyes to their wrongs more than she wanted to. Gotten her to admit the people they had stolen from and maybe even killed would never have been robbed or killed if weren't for them. He made her realize all over again that they were truly bad people, but that was their place in the world and where their life led them to stand. It was the way life was always meant to go for them and they were simply just living it the way it was always meant for them to live it. It was literally her place in the world, there was no way she would feel such a draw to and connection with the gang if she weren't meant to be one of them. She wouldn't feel so free and happy with them, and she most definately wouldn't have been sent back to 1899. Everything she and the gang would be faced with would be something they had to fight through in order to get to where they needed to be, to freedom. She would probably kill and rob along the way, but that was always going to be the life she had ahead of her since she came into the world, that was always meant to be a part of her life story.

Arthur had gotten her thinking, and thinking good. She couldn't help it, with her true mentality about everything being full-heartedly the one she had just discovered within herself due to Arthur's prying, she nodded. Her head felt heavy with worry, but she nodded. It seemed like whenever she had a good talk with John Marston she ended up agreeing to robbery, "I suppose I'm in. If I'm one of you, I might as well do my part."

Arthur smiled at John, "See? Told you she'd come around."

John nodded, "So we're doing it then?"

The other cowboy shrugged, "I still don't know, ain't thought it through. Just wanted to get Celina to say yes. You know," he scratched at the back of his neck, "Stopping a train is a pain in the ass."

"Sure," John nodded, "But what if... we could force the train to stop?"

Arthur raised his hands to the darkened sky as if the answer were obvious, "Well of course."

John let his usual sarcasm slide, "We get a wagon full of something flammable- oil, put it on the tracks... they see it. They know they either have to stop, or die. Ain't no train driver want to be cooked alive."

"That is..." Arthur trailed off in thought, scratching at his short beard, "Kinda brilliant, for you. And that is a real idea! I think it's the first time you ever had one of them."

Celina and John both rolled their eyes at Arthur's way of picking fun. John cracking a small smile, "Shut up."

Arthur continued, "You know John, you might be the first bastard to ever have half his brains eaten by wolves and end up more intelligent."

John rolled his eyes again despite Celina snickering quietly, "So we doing it?"

Arthur nodded, "Yea, we're going to need ammunition, guns, look real frightening and some dynamite to blow open the train."

John perked up in excitement, "I'll get the supplies, gotta go into town for Abigail anyway- don't even ask. Go find us an oil wagon."

"I will." Arthur agreed, "I know just the place, they're always heading into that refinery."

John cracked his knuckles, "There's an old rundown shack just over the border, North of a place they call Dewbury Creek. Leave it hidden somewhere near there."

...

"So, how are we going to do this?" Celina looked over at the cowboy from where they sat on horseback just outside the mining town, Arthur insistent that an oil wagon would be pulling out from the gates soon.

He kept his blue eyes fixed ahead, ready to fire his weapon should a guard decide they were too close and start firing himself, "They should be leaving any minute now. I think I see a wagon moving behind the gates." He glanced over at her briefly, "When the wagon first pulls out, let it gain some distance on us before we chase it down, don't want no trouble from the guards. No one has to get hurt with any of this."

She nodded and pulled up her bandana as Arthur did his, "So," he chuckled quietly, "What's this about John being the one to get you committing your first robbery?"

Celina rolled her eyes with a small smile, "It was an easy job. Good timing, one guy, unarmed... good luck."

"And lots of beer it turns out."

Celina nodded, "Lots of beer. You, Lenny and I should go out to the bar again. Valentine was a lot of fun."

He adjusted his bandana, "The drinking, the waking up in jail, or the hangover?"

It was her turn to laugh, "What do you think?"

A smug smile played across his features, "That I'm a stupid, handsome man. Look," he pointed through the trees to the oil wagon just exiting the town, "There it is. Now, like I said, wait for it to get past us a bit."

She did as told, not daring to encourage her steed to move a muscel until the wagon past them by a good few hundred feet. It was then that Arthur spun his stallion around and barked out his simple order, "Now."

The two of them were off, bursting through the trees on the horses who seemed to be as alive with excitement as they were. Quickly, they closed the distance between themselves and the wagon, it being relatively easy considering their target wasn't exactly fast moving. Arthur shouted at whoever was driving as he neared them, "Stop the wagon before we shoot."

On his cue, Celina aimed her weapon at the man on her side of the wagon, Arthur aiming his at the man on his side, "Stop the wagon or I will shoot."

Making her heart feel like it had dropped down to her stomach, Celina's eyes widened when both men pulled guns on them as well, she kept hers trained on the man who was her responsibility. She tried not to think about who he was or what he meant to anyone. Tried not to think about wether or not he had a family, friends who were like family, "Please, mister, don't make me shoot you."

"Don't make me shoot you, miss, go on your way now." He was a middle aged man worth greying hair. Her attention was vaguely on Arthur and his situation as well although. With the tension, she almost jumped when a gunshot rang out along with a thump of a body to the ground. For just a brief second, the attention of Celina's opponent faltered and she did something she never thought she would be able to do...

She fired the gun, miraculously accurate to the point that the gun the man was holding was sent flying out of his grasp, leaving him unharmed. He turned back, shocked and to Celina's relief, it was Arthur who jumped into the wagon, knocking Celina's opponent from it and to the ground.

Arthur smiled over at her, "I didn't kill the guy I shot, just injured him." He could apparently tell that that was what was on her mind, worry that she had just witnessed her first fatal shooting, "We don't kill unless we absolutely have to."

Gun shots began to ring out, making both Celina and Arthur look behind them to see the two men standing in the middle of the road firing at them in desperate attempt to get their wagon back. It would have been pointless by then though, considering how their efforts were only putting holes in the tank.

Arthur looked back over at her, "Go on up ahead, odds of them hitting you or the horse aren't good but just in case, we'll use the wagon to block the bullets."

She did as told without question, feeling much safer along with grateful that they had no use for what was inside the tank. Or at least, shouldn't have a use for it.. she figured maybe they would have wanted to sell it at one point or another.

It only took a few minutes before the two of them were in the clear and Celina dropped back to ride alongside the wagon once again, looking up at Arthur, "The train comes by tomorrow night, doesn't it?"

Arthur nodded and then his brow furrowed, "I'll never get used to you knowing so much about everything going on."

Celina laughed, "Trust me, it's both a gift and a curse."

...

The sun was up and rather warm the next morning, she and Arthur having dropped the wagon off in the location that Arthur had agreed with John on. It was a good location and Celina was almost chomping at the bit to experience her first train robbery although she hoped to God that nothing would go wrong.

Something though, felt as if it were sitting on her chest regarding the robbery as well, however. Was something going to happen that she couldn't quite remember? She sure hoped not but she didn't want to say anything to the guys if things did end up fine and have them lose their trust in her. Of course the only one in the crew they had assembled who knew the truth about her was Arthur... at the same time, she was seriously contemplating letting John know what was up as well. She could trust John.

She climbed out of her cott and put her privacy divider up, changing quickly. She then proceeded to brush her teeth and comb through her hair before heading out into the camp. The first thing she noticed was the location of the sun, making her realize she had slept quite a bit later than she had intended too.

It had to be at least noon, maybe closer to one in the afternoon. The blame for that could of course be put on how late she had been up and out with Arthur the night before. She didn't think she could ever understand how Bill kept watch all night but she sure was thankful that he usually slept most of the day.

First thing on her list of things to do? Pay Dutch a visit and ensure Molly O'Shea hadn't snuggled back into his cott. If he had taken that woman back after that kiss with her, she was partially convinced she may shoot him in the foot.

Taking a deep breath, Celina entered his tent which was across camp from hers, she smiled almost sheepishly at him and he back at her from where he sat on his bed, "What brings you over here, miss Knoll?"

She laughed and pointed at him, "You, I-"

She was cut off by Arthur barging in, seemingly out of breath, "We got a problem." Immediately both Celina and Dutch's attention was focused on the one who had interrupted them, "I was just down by the river and met a couple fellers, Milton and... and Ross. They are employees of the Pinkerton Detective Agency and they know about the train and they know we're here."

Dutch drug his hand over his face and groaned, standing up, "Were you followed?"

Arthur shook his head, "No, they know we're near here and they want you, Dutch. They offered me my freedom in exchange... They want you bad."

Celina closed her eyes tightly before opening them and gently rested her hand on Dutch's arm hoping to provide a feeling of support. This was just the beginning. Dutch stepped away from her and shook his head as he headed outside, Arthur following, "Why didn't you take it?"

"Ha, very funny," Arthur didn't sound amused in the slightest, "What do we do now?"

Dutch paced for a moment, back in forth in front of his tent as he attempted to formulate a plan, "I say we do nothing, just yet... They are just trying to scare us into doing something stupid. We have turned a corner. We survived them mountains, we just need to stay calm."

Celina stared at the leader with concern from where she stood still inside his tent. Yep... this was just the beginning.

...

Hey there guys, this is just a story idea I had and wanted to know how you guys would feel. What's the point in possibly writing something if no one is going to like it?! Anyway, this is just an idea, I'm not sure if the story is going to go in this direction yet or not so don't hold me to it.

Butttttt...

I'm thinking Dutch is not going to be an easy man to love, and I'm not saying Celina won't end up with him. I'm not even saying Celina will end up with him. However, I'm thinking with the way things are now, in the future, he could drive her away for at least a bit. Or... somehow she could get seperated from the group against her will... maybe it's not Dutch's fault.

I'm thinking maybe when she's seperated for a while... let's say she's with, Trelawny? I'm not saying there would or wouldn't be romance between the two of them, but I don't know. Could be. Orrr... Trelawny could be the perfect man to help Celina make Dutch realize what he wants, possibly through jealousy?

I think it'd be fun to write Celina and Trelawny off together manipulating people and digging for info on various things lol.

Honestly, as it is right now, I think her true love is Dutch. I've thought about writing in some Celina x Arthur romance but just don't feel it and there's no way Arthur would be used to make Dutch jealous, I don't want that for him.

Anyway, maybe Arthur x Sadie will be an item?

Anyone care to comment? ?


	15. Chapter 15

Night fell across the camp, and with it getting dark, meant Celina and Arthur were about to head out to the oil wagon, for the night. Charles and John themselves had gone out ahead to see that everything was going as planned for the trains departure early morning, the four of them all having agreed to meet up at the wagon. The woman wasn't too into sleeping out their instead of in camp, but Arthur had convinced her that they needed to be prepared for whenever John and Charles arrived.

"Are you ready?" Arthur leaned against her tent, arms crossed, watching as she shrugged on her coat. He smiled slightly when she nodded, "You know this could get ugly, right?"

Again, she nodded, "I know... I've seen you guys rob trains before... kinda, sorta."

He raised a brow, "Kinda sorta?"

"Yepp, not explaining now though, he have an oil wagon to go sleep by." She did her best to fake enthusiasm, "So excited."

Arthur turned on his heel, rolling his eyes at the young girl and began to walk away from her tent and to the horses, her following, "It isn't too late to back out of this, you know that, right? Charles, John and I can handle it."

She smirked, "And Sean?"

His eyes widened, "No, not Sean. Why would you think he's coming?"

She shrugged, "Because he is."

"No."

"Yepp. Bet you fifty dollars that he'll be waiting at the oil wagon."

Arthur rolled his eyes, this time at the young man and not so much Celina, "Why is he going to be there?"

The woman mounted her horse, getting comfortable in her saddle, "Because he wants in on some of the action."

"Great." They urged their horses onwards, steering them out of camp, "You know..." Arthur studied Celina's horse carefully, "That horse you got there has seen better days. I think maybe it's time we retire him and get you a new one."

She looked over at him in interest, "Really?"

Arthur nodded, "Really. I've got just the one in mind for you too.."

"Well, what ones that?"

He hesitated for a moment, "Oh, it's a ways away from here, up in the Grizzlies. Usually hangs out around Isabella Lake from what I know. It's a white Arabian... I went up there once already trying to catch it but, considering I don't have it... it's not an easy horse to catch."

She laughed and shook her head, "But it's the perfect horse for me, huh?"

He smirked sheepishly, "It's beautiful, seems to be a good horse," He patted the one he was riding. "If you ever happen to go after it, take someone with you, lots of wolves up that way... and dress warm. It's freezing up there and honestly, I bet the area is still covered with snow. It would be nice if it wasn't... but."

She couldn't help but laughing again, "If you think it's a good horse and would do me well, fine." She eyed him in amusement, "But I think that you want someone to be successful in taming it just because it out smarted you. Sounds like you have an issue to deal with with a horse."

Arthur smirked and shook his head, "Nope, not at all... but if you did catch it, I might want to ride it time to time. You know, since I am the one who told you about it." He made eye contact with her, nothing but mischief sparkling in his own.

She laughed, humor in her eyes as well, "I knew it! Trying to manipulate me."

"Maybe a bit, but you really do need a new horse. I'll let Dutch get it for you though. Bastard charms horses just as well as he charms people."

"I bet he does."

...

It wasn't too long before the two of them heard the sound of gunshots coming from the direction of the oil wagon, Arthur slowed his horse down to a walk and began trying to peer through the trees as he rode. Celina found amusement in his actions since there was no doubt in her mind who was firing off shots, "It's Sean. I told you he'd be waiting, remember?"

"Oh," Arthur straightened back up on his horse, realizing that that was exactly what she had told him, "Again."

"I know, I know, you have to get used to it."

Together, the two of them rode up to the wagon, Sean not noticing their approach. Arthur spoke, making the boy jump, "What're you doing out here?"

Sean immediately perked up, "Lemme come on the raid with ya."

"Raid?"

Sean rolled his eyes dramatically, putting his gun back in its holster, "Don't play coy with me, son, it's unbecoming. That bloody train you and him has set up. What yer doing out there, you're going to need guns."

Arthur took a step back and raised his hands, things suddenly clear to him, "Oh, so Marston told you? It ain't a big show. I need calmness. If I take you, I might as well bring Micah along."

Sean's hand inched towards his gun in warning, "You compare me to that oily turd again, you're a dead man."

Arthur chuckled and raised his hands, dipping his head slightly, "Fair enough."

"What's your problem with me anyway, Arthur? In fact, don't tell me, I already know, you're threatened by me."

Celina about choked on her spit from where she stood at Arthur's side, "You think he's threatened by you?"

Sean nodded, totally convinced with himself, "Yea, my youthful vigor-"

"-That'll be enough, Sean.. we got work to do in the morning, so we're going to crash here for the night." Arthur adjusted his gamblers hat, a look of concern upon his face, "Charles and John will be joining us here in the morning."

"Ah, ok," Sean's drawed, his Irish accent as thick as ever, "But just keep the noise levels down, ya hear?" He pointed at the two of them accusing, before chuckling and going to lie down himself.

...

It was the next morning when Celina was awoken by the sound of familiar voices growing nearer and nearer. She vaguely recognized the voices to belong to John and Charles and she went to rollover in attempt to block them out only to realize that she couldn't, there was something restraining her. Opening her eyes against her true desires, she looked down to see an arm wrapped around her waist. In confusion, she looked over at Arthur who was beginning to stir as well. Silently, she thanked God that Dutch wasn't there to see their current position, no matter how truly innocent.

"Arthur," she said his name gently but loudly enough to bring him fully out of his dreams, "I hear John and Charles, they're here."

Arthur opened his own eyes slowly and then, upon realizing the position of his arm around her waist, he quickly jerked away, "I'm sorry, I-"

He was interrupted by Sean, "You two love birds are finally awake, I see. Here comes Charles and John now."

As if on cue, the two spoken of men came into the small clearing, John immediately looking irritated to see Sean there, "What're you doing here, kid?"

Sean acted as if the answer were obvious, "I'm coming, on the job."

John took a deep breath as Celina and Arthur stood to their feet, Celina attempting to dust off her clothes but Arthur not bothering, "I said you weren't coming."

Sean shrugged and gestured to Arthur who still looked too tired to put up an argument, "Well Arthur said I'm coming, so come on, let's go." He climbed onto the wagon, hanging onto the side as he had the decency to grant Celina the passengers seat. Still, he was rambling on, "I can't wait to slit some bastards throat."

Celina looked at the other three men in concern and uneasiness, John being the one to voice the concern to Arthur, "Are you sure about this?"

Arthur shook his head, defeated, "Absolutely not." He looked over to Celina then, "You get on up there and make yourself comfortable, we're ready to head out."

Celina shrugged before walking over to the side of the wagon and climbimg up into it. Once Arthur was in his seat as well, Charles and John grabbed onto the sides of the wagon, riding standing up like Sean as Arthur pulled the tank out of the trees.

They were off to rob the train. Arthur looked over at the crew as they pulled out onto the road, "Let's go make some money." His gaze settled on John as the wagon began to accelerate down the road, "Hey, wolf man, find us a good spot?"

John accepted his new nick-name without issue, "Yea, follow this road, there's a spot that's.. remote, but should give them enough time to spot the oil wagon."

"They see this blocking the tracks, they should stop soon enough."

John agreed, "There's said to be a team of guards on the state line, so shouldn't be much trouble."

Sean butted in, "See, I disappear for a couple of weeks and you guys cut me out of all the action."

Celina rolled her eyes and fidgetted her hands. Everything was starting to seem so crazy to her again in that moment.. not in a bad way, but sometimes she still had a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that it was 1899. She looked up at the sky, it was still dark out, the sun wouldn't be up for a few hours yet. She breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that it would be hard for anyone who didn't know them to exactly know who they were dealing with in the dark.

John picked back at Sean, "Only the action that requires a brain." The woman found that retort to be somewhat dumb to say in front of Arthur with all the half-eaten brain jokes he'd make about him.

Sean just couldn't stop talking, "Ah, word has it you had your feet up the whole time playing sick, and tending to that new scar like you're gonna buy it breakfast in the morning."

An edge picked up in John's tone, "That's not how it was."

Sean pressed on, "Wouldn't want you getting scratched by a squirrel or something. That could put you outta commission for the rest of the year."

Charles seemed to be getting as annoyed with Sean as Celina, "Why do you have to speak so much?"

"Because I still got some blood in me veins! You old bastards have forgotten how to live, going about day to day, following orders like good soldiers."

John scoffed, and directed his attention to Arthur and Charles, "I blame you two for recuing him."

Arthur shook his head, "Far too much trouble, beginning to wish we had left him."

Sean still just could not find it within himself to keep his mouth shut, "Yeah, takes a whole army of bounty hunters to bring in Sean Macguire. And look at me now, in the gunners seat, back in business, boys! You know, my da always used to say-"

Charles, John, and Arthur all cut him off there, demanding that he not continue with whatever story he was heading into telling them, Celina still just hoping that he would shut up.

"Fine!" Sean glared at the back of Charles' head considering he was standing behind Charles, "Damn you three... Sulky, Angry and Scar face. And damn you too, miss Big Bad, coming along for the job. A right barrel of laughs."

Celina rolled her eyes once again although an amused smile tugged at her lips, the guy sure had come up with names for all of them in an instant. She looked up ahead, seeing tracks coming up very soon, she pointed, "Right there would be good, wouldn't it?"

Arthur nodded, continuing forward that destination, "Looks good to me." It really was only maybe another minute before the wagon was stopped on the tracks, everyone climbing off the wagon and Arthur releasing the horses. As if on cue, the five of them pulled up their bandanas to hide their identity and prevent anyone from getting a good look at their faces.

John looked at Arthur in confusion when he walked back over to the wagon, "What're you doing?"

Arthur climbed up on the tank, starting straight ahead in the direction the train would be coming from, "Ensuring it stops."

Now, Celina knew that Arthur wouldn't be killed doing what he was doing, if that was the case, this event would have never been recorded by him in his journal. Still, she couldn't help the fear that grew for him in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't help but have the urge to pull him off the wagon and to certain safety.

He sure did have the looking intimidating part down though. She thought, although she knew him, that he looked downright frightening. The train came into view and Arthur into view of the train as it came to a stop maybe a foot our two in front of him. It was close, to say the least.

That, was, Celina figured, when the actual robbery began. She, Charles, John, Sean and Arthur all boarded the stopped train, guns ready to fire if need be. Seeing Arthur head towards the flat deck of the train and behind taking out guards with Charles, and that John had went to the first passenger car, she took the second for herself, sneaking aboard luckily without incident. She had no idea where Sean had went.

As she boarded the first passenger car, she assessed the people in it, there looked to be about ten people or so. Quickly, she wipped up something typical to say during a robbery, "This is a robbery! Anyone who tries to leave, gets shot." She waved her Cattleman Revolver from passenger to passenger, "Anyone who complies, walks away with their lives. I suggest you do as I say."

At that, the woman approached her first passenger, holding out the sack she had to collect funds and aiming her gun at them with a steady hand, "Money and any valuables, in the bag, now."

The man looked up at her with fear in his eyes, the look truly tugging on her heart. She had to do this though, she came along to help and if they were ever going to achieve freedom, they needed money and they needed it fast. This was her life now and she wasn't about to let them fail in breaking free from the law which hung over their heads. "Now, sir." She kept her gun trained on him, "Don't make me shoot you."

The man nodded hurriedly and reached into his pockets, with a shaking hand, he deposited a hand full of money into the sack. She nodded at him in thanks, "Thank you sir."

She made her way down the train, insisting that everyone turn over their money and valuables, blocking out the sound of gunfire which she knew was the boys taking out guards. She felt bad for what she had done but it was 1899, and she had to fight for her freedom which she honestly found herself wanting even after having lived in 2018, the idea of freedom with the Van Der Linde gang appealed to her greatly.

That said, she had skipped over robbing an elderly couple who sat in one of the seats. She could bring herself to rob everyone else on the train, but old folk? She couldn't find it in her heart.

"Celina, get back to baggage!"

It was Arthur's voice that made it's way to her ears. At once, she sprinted back to the baggage area, joining the rest of the gang in looting anything they could find. Their takes were great, Celina realized as everyone exclaimed excitedly upon finding something that they knew would being greater fortune to the gang, Celina herself stuffed a couple gold bars in her bag, sure to rake in five hundred dollars each. These were truly rich folk, they could afford losing the money and be fine. Heck, might even be reimbursed for their troubles.

There was then the sound of hooves against the earth followed by Charles' voice as he peered out of the train before quickly ducking back, "We've got company, a good amount of it."

Celina felt her heart sink at those words, "No." Her voice came out in a whisper so quiet no one else heard.

"Let's get to the deck, take these fools out," The guys all quickly followed Arthur, running back up the train, Celina on their heels. She ducked behind the wooden crates as did they, taking cover from the oncoming bullets. Against everything she had stood for in 2018, she peered out from the crate she hid behind and fired a shot at one of the law officials, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying from his horse.

She ducked back down, frozen with the realization of what she had just done. She had shot- and killed someone. She looked over at Charles who was hidden across from her, firing away. He was the only one in her line of sight, the shooting not visibly seeming to bother him at all.

Celina took a deep breath, she had killed someone, she was officially a part of this lifestyle now and she would never be able to reverse her actions. What would she do now? She would fight for what the gang... and herself stood for, freedom from the law. Freedom from ever being monitored by the government, freedom from the law putting restrictions on how any of them were to live their lives. Freedom of being controlled by those who worked for the government.

She fired again, and again, hitting man on horse after man on horse. As she kept firing, her thoughts about what she was doing began to fade. If she shot one law official, what's so hard about shooting the next one? In that moment, it was getting easier as it was her and her family- freedom versus them.

Finally, they made a break for it under Arthur's command, "I don't know where they're coming from but they keep coming, we need to get out of here before we're completely surrounded."

Not another word from any of them, they all shot down the nearest law officials before running to and mounting their horses, taking off at full gallops and firing behind them only hoping not to be shot.

...

A/N: Longer chapter guys, hope you enjoyed it!

Any thoughts/comments are always appreciated ?

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	16. Chapter 16

"I think we lost them," Charles glanced back in the direction which they had hastily fled as did everyone else just to ensure no one was missing anything.

"Do you think that was a set up?" John asked, looking at Arthur, "The law sure did turn up fast."

Arthur was quiet for a moment, secretly looking to Celina, silently asking if she knew that something may have been compromised concerning their heist. She kept eye contact and shook her head ever so slightly. Arthur sighed and leaned back slightly, "I don't think so... could be. I'm kinda nervous but it was probably just locals who saw what was going down. I hope at least."

"So what do we do now?" John still seemed nervous about the possibility of having been set up.

"We split up, no one heads back to camp just yet. Can't risk leading them back. When we finally get back to camp, we disperse our takes and see if Dutch is ready to get out of here. They're too close..

They're just too close."

...

After splitting off from the guys, Celina had decided to ride into Valentine and pay the stables a visit. Not only had she swiped two gold bars on the train, but a good sized sack of money. Hitching Arthur's old horse to the closest hitching post, she dismounted and dug through her saddle bag to the money which was now hers through theft. She truly hadn't thought she'd ever steal anything up until a little over a month ago. But now, there she was.

With a deep sigh, she made her way into the barn, being quickly greeted by either the stable hand or the barn manager, "You here to buy, miss? We've got several excellent horses available."

Celina nodded, looking around at the horses in the stable, hearing familiar voices outside, she peered out the barn door to see Arthur and John talking with someone, she figured that it had to do with the sheep that if she remembered correctly, they had probably just rustled.

She looked back over to the man who had been attempting to sell her a horse, "I'll come back a bit later, I've got to join my friends." At that, she left the barn, stashing her sack of money back into her saddle bag.

"What are you doing here?"

She laughed at the way Arthur had chosen to greet her, "I was going to look into buying a new horse. It seems that you and John have gotten into something yourselves?"

Arthur nodded, "Sheep rustling."

She burt out laughing at that thinking it to sound odd coming from his mouth, "Oh, you criminal."

John smiled at the two of them, "You guys want to go and get a drink?"

Celina raised a brow at Arthur with a smile in remembrance of the night he, she and Lenny had all gotten way too drunk for their own good. She pointed to herself in disbelief, "Me, drink? No- never." Her mind swarmed back to the night she had finally punched Molly.

Apparently, that which was on her mind was obvious, as John chuckled slightly as well, "So are you saying that you nearly killed Molly while sober?"

She smirked misceviously, "The world may never know."

The trio made their way to the bar together, all surprised to see that Dutch's horse was outside as well as Strauss's. Celina took a step back, suddenly realizing what she had walked into. She had forgotten about what would happen here.

Arthur looked at her in concern as they went up the steps, "Is everything ok?"

She shook her head and leaned into him, having him lower his head so she could whisper in his ear, "All of us, including Strauss need to stay in this bar... I just remembered, if John and Strauss leave, Leviticus Cornwall is going to capture them and use them as leverage to start a gunfight with you and Dutch." She pulled Arthur off to the side of the porch to let locals by, John keeping his distance to let them have privacy although he was looking at them funny, "Just trust me, we should make it out alive, but a lot of people will die."

Arthur nodded sharply and stood back up straight before entering the bar behind Celina, John taking up the rear. The woman smiled as soon as her gaze fell on the leader of the Van Der Linde gang, "Dutch,"

He returned the smile, his dark eyes sparkling in interest, "Miss Knoll."

She rolled her eyes and made her way over to him, "It's Celina, dummy."

She thought that she heard John laugh, her suspicion confirmed when Dutch's gaze focused just behind her, a stern but amused look in her eyes. Dutch greeted the men, "Arthur, John, and Celina... what a surprise, what're the three of you up to?"

"Well," Celina didn't give either of them a chance to answer, "Arthur and John are waiting to be paid for... sheep. I was over here trying to find a horse to buy but I got distracted. Didn't expect to see these two."

Dutch nodded and then glanced over to Strauss who was listening to their conversation quietly, "Leopald, why don't you and John go and make sure there isn't any more funny business."

Arthur butted in, "Actually, Dutch, I think we should all stay here and low for a few minutes. Celina saw something she didn't like going on out there... could be quite a bit of trouble if any of us are spotted."

He and Dutch held eye contact for an intense moment before Dutch's eyes flickered to Celina's in question. Hoping it would give him a good and clear answer, she held his gaze for a moment herself before giving a slight nod, "Could be more trouble than what we need right now."

Dutch nodded back in understanding, "Well, in that case," He looked back at Strauss, "Why don't you go have a few drinks at the bar with Arthur and John and let me and Celina talk a bit."

Strauss stood from his seat, "Of course." Without another word, he made his way to the bar with Arthur and John, all of them sitting on a stool.

Celina took a seat right next to Dutch, keeping her voice low to prevent anyone overhearing her, "Leviticus Cornwall and his men would have snatched up John and Strauss if they had stepped outside... to my knowledge at least. We would have ended up killing a lot of people, figured it could be avoided."

Dutch nodded again in approval, "Not only are you beautiful on the outside but on the inside too miss Knoll. How glad am I to have you on our side."

She smiled almost sheepishly, "I'm on your side most of all, Dutch."

He smirked, "So I'm taking it you won't be knocking me to Hell too?"

Her cheeks began to burn, an obvious sign that blush was creeping it's way onto them against her will. It was abundantly clear that he was referring to how thoroughly she had kicked Molly's ass. Still, she felt a strange surge of pride at the memory, "How is she doing?"

Dutch stared at her for a second, as if trying to read whether or not her question was sincere. Finally, he cracked a smile, "Do you truly care?"

"Maybe," she shrugged, "A bit."

"She's dying, you killed her."

"Dutch." His name slipped from her lips in an amused yet attempted firm tone, "How is she?"

It was his turn to shrug with a rather sheepish smile of his own, "I'm sure she will be fine, you beat her good enough but not terribly..

Honestly, I haven't really checked up on her."

She tucked her lips into her mouth at his words, trying not to smile like an idiot, "You haven't?"

"No." He sighed, and reached for her right hand, studying the tattoo that ran from her pointer finger to her wrist right below her thumb, it was an elegant design, really, that of a rose vine with thorns. He couldn't have said he had paid it a whole lot of attention before. He turned her hand over gently to study the tattoo on her wrist which spelled 'freedom' in cursive. His eyes then trailed to the tattoo of a gun on her inner forearm, his fingers following, leaving a trail of tingling nerves up her arm. Finally, his gaze met hers again, "Look, Celina... I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened at the words, "You're sorry?"

He nodded, "For all of that with Molly and you, for making you feel used. I didn't- that was never my intention. I- I- I care about you-"

"Van Der Linde! Get out here! Get out here now!"

Dutch took a deep breath, keeping his gaze on Celina as she inhaled deeply too, "You think that's him?"

Celina's hand immediately reached for her Cattleman Revolver which was secured in it's holster, it seemed that this day had yet to get uglier than just the screwed up train robbery, "I'm willing to bet on it."

Across the room at the bar, Strauss, John and Arthur looked at Dutch with worry evident on all their faces.

"Van Der Linde, you don't know me, but you keep robbing me. My name is Leviticus Cornwall and I am not a man to be messed with, expecially by someone such as yourself and your gang of parasites." When none of the gang dared to do anything, he continued, "I know you're in there Van Der Linde! I saw some of your own head into that bar you're holed up in. Come out now and nothing has to get any messier than it already is!"

Dutch made eye contact with each of his own, his gaze stopping on Arthur, he having made his way over by the table to stand against the wall by Dutch's table, "What do you think, Arthur? Should we open fire on them?"

Arthur rubbed at his short beard, shaking his head, "I don't know, Dutch. We can't just stay here, it's clear he's not going anywhere but maybe coming in... possibly."

Dutch nodded standing up slowly from his seat, Celina's heart felt as if it were climbing into her throat. What if this were it? By choosing to reveal some information, she had altered the outcome of the situation? What if someone got killed? Dutch? Arthur? John? The leader planted himself against the wall right beside the door so that he wasn't yet visable to anyone outside. His voice carried, shaking slightly as it was a characteristic of his to do so, "I'll come out," Arthur had taken cover at the other side of the door quickly, Celina taking the window on Dutch's side and John taking the one on Arthur's.

"I'll come out," Dutch said again, "But I must warn you fellas, I ain't no Dutch Van Der Linde, whoever he may be. This is truly a case of very unfortunate mistaken identity."

Arthur fired the first shot, a headshot killing his target instantly. That was when the firing began for the second time that day, each of them doing their best to stay in cover to avoid the oncoming slew of bullets.

Celina fired, blocking out everything around her but allowing it to consume her all the same. She watched as her first victim of the fight fell to the ground, twitching uncontrollably upon her shooting him in the center of his stomach. Men dropped like flies as she, Dutch, Arthur and John shot them. Cornwall have of course gotten away, but that wasn't the most surprising of things.

What was surprising was when a fresh group of men appeared suddenly, dragging a struggling Strauss with them. Immediately, the firing ceased on both ends, the man speaking not being Cornwall but someone that none of them recognized, "That's it, Van Der Linde, you're done! I'm going to kill your man if you don't get out here now!"

There were five men surrounding Strauss, several more hidden behind barrels, wagons, and up on balconies that Celina could see. She took a deep breath, wondering if there was any way that they would be able to save the truly weird older man.

Arthur spoke, "What're we going to do, Dutch?"

"Just let me think, Arthur, this isn't good, son. This isn't good at all."

It was her fault, just as she had feared, she had revealed information and now it was biting her back. By trying to make a situation better and hoping that Cornwall wouldn't realize they were in Valentine, she had went and made it potentially much worse.

"Dutch." It was John who said his name then, looking for guidance.

"Ok, sons..." he looked over at Celina, "Miss Knoll, brace yourselves for a fight."

Following Dutch's lead, the three of them made their way outside to the porch as quickly as possible, firing the entire time while still taking cover immediately behind the old doors which were luckily propped up against the spindles of the porches railing.

Celina was once again right next to Dutch, close enough that she could just about feel the heat radiating in waves off his body. Then, as soon as someone got a window to do so, it happened... They were just so outnumbered there was really no possible way they could have kept it from happening. Still for, Dutch, Arthur and John, that didn't necessarily make it any easier to see Strauss shot dead before them.

With an angried cry, Dutch stood up and took cover behind a pole instead, as did Arthur, using the pole closest to himself. John and Celina remaining behind the bullet ridden doors, still relying on them for protection against the bullets.

"These doors aren't going to hold up much longer," it was Celina who spoke, fearing that it was just a matter of time before a bullet made it's way through a shattered part in the door and into her.

John shook his head, "No, they're not, we need to move."

Dutch picked up on the conversation, "We need to get out of here, Strauss is... gone. We need to leave before any more of us get taken out." They continued to fire, taking out their attackers until there only seemed to be a few left, "We grab the nearest horses and made a run for it- and not straight back to camp, either. We can't risk being followed."

The present gang members nodded and upon exchanging looks of understanding with one another, they each mentally crossed their fingers and took their chances of darting into the open, all of them immediately being responsible for their own safety in their mad dash to escape.

In the haste, Celina shot down a man who had fixed to fire at her, instead shooting him in the head herself. Without being able to take a moment to admire the beautiful paint horse she mounted, she gave it a good kick, sending it racing through the town and between buildings, quickly getting her out of sight and fire range of Valentine. Still she rode on at a canter, not willing to give anyone the chance to catch up to her.

Strauss was dead, and she couldn't shake the feeling that it was her fault.

...

A/N: And there's the next chapter! Sorry guys if any of you liked Strauss... (I didn't). I felt like someone should die in this chapter and there was no way I was going to kill off any of the other three guys. So... there Strauss went.

Celina has finally started shooting to kill. We'll go into any impact it has on her more possibly in the next chapter or so... too much action and instinct impulses, snap decisions for her to have a chance to sit down and let her actions truly catch up to her.

Also a little sweet Dutch x Celina moment! I love those lol.

As always, I love to hear and answer any questions/comments any of you may have and hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	17. Chapter 17

It had only taken a couple days after the terrible incident in Valentine for the gang to pack up and move down to that location by Dewbury Creek which Dutch had had Arthur and Charles scout out. Part of her had hoped that it would have been she and Dutch to go and take a look themselves. She knew better than that though, knew better than to even suggest such a thing to be done by only the two of them after so much trouble near the area they had been calling home.

Things between herself and the charismatic leader were good to say the least, actually... he had offered to have her move into his tent with him upon making the move. She had declined, she wouldn't like sharing a bed with him which he had previously shared with Molly. She didn't want to imagine them... on it... together. Unfortunately, her imagination was pretty vivid.

She had even told Dutch that that bothered her, and to her surprise, he actually had expressed a caring attitude, stating that he would see to getting a new one as quickly as he could. It was weird, seeing Dutch practically bend over backwards to please her.

Part of it, she thought was because of everyone in the camp, he knew how she felt about Strauss' death... he knew how much she blamed herself and how much it tore her up on the inside. She had originally thought that she could keep her composure and not reveal the emotions that had made her want to stay in bed all day, passing it off as a cold. Dutch had seen right through the act.

...

"Miss Knoll," Dutch had approached her tent with concern evident in his voice and on his face, "You haven't had lunch or dinner that I've noticed, what's bothering you?"

Celina had shrugged, pulling her blanket up to her shoulders and rolling over on the cott so she wouldn't have to look at him. She hadn't wanted him to see the tears steaming down her face. It was the day after Strauss' death, and although she hadn't particularly cared for the older man, his death kept replaying over and over in her mind. She had caused him to die before his time all by trying to protect the gang, "Nothing, Dutch." She muttered, "Trying to keep the heartache from showing in her voice. I'm fine, just feel noxious."

She had felt him sit down beside her on the end of the cott, his voice was gentle, almost cautious, "Celina, I know you're not ok." She refused to say anything, hoping that he would give up and go away. Instead, he began to stroke his fingers through her hair, making her stomach tie into knots, "I can tell you're crying. I want you to roll back over and talk to me."

She sniffled, trying to get her silent tears under control, "I don't want to."

With gentle yet firm hands, Dutch forced her to rollover, freezing just for a moment when he saw the fresh tears streaking her face. After the slight pause, he reached out and slowly wiped her tears away, "Hey," he spoke gently in attempt to calm her, pulling her into his lap with slight hello from her to wrap his strong arms around her trembling frame. "It's going to be ok, you're going to be ok."

She snuggled as close to him as she possibly could, him pulling her tighter into his chest, "I killed him- Dutch. I- I-"

"You didn't kill him," He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before thinking twice, "Some of Cornwall's men must have gotten into the bar when we were shooting... must have dragged him out before we noticed. There's no way that was you fault."

She nodded decisively, fresh tears running down her face, her voice broken between sobs. She was oblivious to the gang members looking over at the two of them in curiosity, in surprise to see Dutch being so... empathetic, truly empathetic almost right in the open for anyone to see. It was rare, but it did happen. He made eye contact with John as he passed by, almost walking directly into the wagon. Despite the opportunity to comment, he did not, simply held her and listened as she spoke, "I tried to keep us from getting noticed and it got him k-k- killed." She trembled violently, "Dutch, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't you be sorry," He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, it was hard enough, losing one of his dear friends but to see her like this over it? He had to fight from tearing up with the woman, "You didn't know, you didn't know."

"I- I- I can't, D-Dutch... what if next time I try to help, I get someone else killed? No one- none of us were supposed to die yesterday but he did because of me! Because me warning you guys changed things and something worse happened."

He continued holding her in his arms, a million thoughts swarming in his head. He needed to know what was going to happen, needed her to let him know about ambushes and set ups. He was sure that she would, should she feel the need to. He took a deep breath himself, he just had to trust the judgement of the person who had already seen almost everything happen..

...

Celina snapped out of her thoughts of yesterday's mental break down, finishing in arranging her tent just the way she had had it previously at the old camp. She walked away from it, seeing Dutch standing down by the lake, looking out over the beautiful scenery, she smiled. He really was a handsome man, and she was pretty sure he was all hers.

That exactly, the pretty sure part, of course had to be clarified at soonest appropriate time. She had to know for sure he was hers and no one elses.

In thought of no one else's, Celina looked over her shoulder to see Molly staring daggers into her. She was getting a lot of that from the Red-head. Needless to say, she didn't care so much as she continued to make her way down to Dutch. In her opinion, Molly would be doing right to try to return to her previous home, no one there could truly find joy in her company.

"Dutch," she called out to him as she neared him.

He turned around with a genuine smile, "Ah, miss Knoll, how are you feeling?"

She took a deep breath and shrugged, "A little better I guess, I don't feel like staying in bed all day."

"Good," he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and lowered his voice, "Because that's only something you're permitted to do with me." He winked down at her and a blush lit up her cheeks. He was truly the first man in a few years who had that effect on her.

There was the sound of approaching footsteps and both of them turned in the direction of the sound to see Arthur approaching, "Arthur, my boy! Just the man I wanted to speak with."

Arthur looked at Dutch with worry in his blue eyes, "Are you ok, Dutch?"

Dutch's brows furrowed together, "Am I ok? I'm great, we're getting somewhere, Arthur. I can feel it. Everything is going to be just fine, wait and see."

Arthur shook his head, "We lost people, Dutch. Hell, we just lost Strauss a few days ago and you're acting like nothing happened."

Dutch looked down at the muddy ground, taking a moment for himself before meeting Arthur's gaze again, "My boy, I sorrow over our losses greatly but we must not allow them to hold us back. We can't risk mourning make us weak and unaware of what's going on around us. We need to stay on our toes to fight our fight." He held Arthur's gaze for moment as if darting him to argue.

Arthur shook his head and shifted his weight uncomfortably, "I don't know, Dutch."

"I do, son." His tone had softened, "I do." Suddenly, he perked up again, "Now, what I wanted to say to you is that Hosea and I are fixing on going out on a fishing trip. He says he knows just the spot to make some good catches. Are you in?"

Arthur nodded, looking vaguely irritated at Dutch's lack of concern over what he had tried to address with him, "Yea, I'll come."

Dutch nodded once and then looked back to Celina whom he still had not moved his arm from the shoulders of, "What about you, are you coming along on that nice paint you snatched up?"

She looked up at him in surprise, not having expected him to invite her, "Are you sure you don't want it to just be the three of you? I can stay behind."

Dutch shook his head, "I want you to come, and I'm sure Hosea and Arthur would just love for you to tag along as well. What do you say?"

She tried not too seem too excited, getting invited out with the three of them. She needed something to do to keep her mind off of... Everything, and going out and having fun was just the way to do that. "Sure," she nodded with a brilliant smile which made her blue eyes twinkle a bit more than usual, secretly making Dutch's heart feel as if it were going to break through his chest.

He smiled back at her and just as she went to move away from him, he caught her arm and spun her back around to stand directly in front of his before crashing his lips into hers in a breath-taking kiss.

Celina kissed him back, somewhat self-conscious that she knew anyone in camp could look over and see the two of them standing down by the river, lip-locked in a way that didn't leave any room for question regarding what was on either of their minds. Celina was the one to finally break the kiss although reluctantly by pushing him away.

Dutch looked at her with a wild, captivating look in his brown eyes, he wanted more, that much was obvious, as did she, "We can't be putting on a show for everyone. Anyway, Arthur and Hosea are waiting."

Dutch chuckled, running his hands over his hair to ensure it was slicked back properly, "Ever the observant one, aren't you?"

She laughed back at him, "Yep, pretty much always." Her eyes scanned over the camp to see everyone going about their business as usual. Maybe no one had watched them, but she would almost put her money on the bet that they were all pretending, "Let's get ready and go catch some fish."

...

Celina rode behind Dutch who rode behind Hosea, Arthur bringing up the rear as the eldest of them led them through the forest trail in the direction of the fishing spot which he valued to be so great. Arthur, apparently didn't think where they fished mattered, "Why are we going out of our way when we can fish back at camp?"

"Because," Dutch spoke loudly, "I needed to get out of camp and so did miss Knoll. The original guard, and the girl who came to save them."

Celina smiled, "Like the sound of that, but you make it seem like I came on purpose."

Dutch glanced back at her, "I can't say I see you leaving."

She shook her head, the smile still remaining on her face, "I can't say I will."

As they came out of the woods and rode onto the open road, Hosea looked around appreciatively at their surrounding, "I was once in this country with Bessie, it feels like a lifetime ago."

Dutch laughed, "It was a lifetime ago but what a beautiful life we have lived, and what a beautiful life we will continue living until the moment of our last breaths."

Celina remained silent, admiring their surroundings as well. Everything was so... Everything was, well, so beautiful. How pure and miraculous the earth appeared until civilization grew and destroyed the beauty of the world. 1899, she never thought she would truly see it in color, never thought it were possible but there she was, living in it and admiring the lush green grass and trees, and the clear, smokeless blue sky all around. This was, this was perfect.

She tuned back into the conversation to hear Dutch going on about having a plan and not wanting to have anyone doubting him. She figured that that was partially what contributed to his downfall too, one of his newest abilities to doubt that those who trusted and followed him didn't secretly doubt him. Well, she thought with humor, at least no one who had seen their kiss would ever doubt that he was one heck of a good kisser. The thought of it made her feel weak in the knees.

"Dutch, we have got to play it cool," Hosea cut him off, "It seems there are some law up ahead."

At a slow trot, the four of them went to make their way past the law, only to ride up to the wagon against their own nature at the sound of a familiar voice which has greeted them, "I seem to have gotten myself into rather a predicament." In the caged back of the wagon sat Josiah Trelawny amongst a group of other men who had been arrested.

Dutch spoke lowly to him, "Why don't we see if we can't sort this out." He urged his horse forward to the front of the wagon, giving a friendly wave to the men sitting in the driver's seat, "How are you boys? This is quite a fine country you have here."

The sheriff nodded, "We like it fine."

Dutch gestured to himself, "Hoagy Macintosh, at your service." Hearing the name he had made up for himself, Celina about choked on her spit, fighting with herself not to laugh no matter how bad she wanted to.

"Leigh Gray," The sheriff nodded before gesturing to his deputy, "And this is Archibald McGreggor, my deputy."

Dutch dipped his head in feigned respect, "My pleasure to meet the two of you... Now tell me sir, what did the silly, fancy fop back there do?" Celina watched with concern as everyone but Trelawny attempted to undo the lock on the cage, trying to take the opportunity to escape, "Nothing too terrible I wouldn't think."

The sheriff spoke with conviction, "He was accused of running a gold mining investment scam."

Dutch shook his head in denial, proving to not be so bad of an actor, "Oh no, you've got to be kidding me. He wouldn't do something like that. He's a magician, and a fool, I know him personally... He ain't a bad feller. Can we-"

Dutch was interrupted by the Anderson boys escaping the cage and running off to board the passing train as Trelawny watched from the cage with concern. She sheriff's panic was evident in his voice, "Oh no! The Anderson boys, they're out! I can't have another thing go wrong, not like this."

Dutch glanced in the direction of the train before looking to Arthur, "Arthur, you go get those boys, and don't shoot them but by no means to you let them get away. We need to provide some assistance to our friends here."

Arthur nodded, not hesitating in the slightest to play along. Archibald joined Arthur on his horse under the sheriff's orders, Celina, Dutch, Trelawny, Hosea and the Sheriff watching as Arthur's horse bolted after the wagon. Dutch was doing exactly as Celina knew him to do, trying to get in the good graces of the law to benefit himself and the gang. He looked back up at the Sheriff after sharing a glance with Trelawny, "Why don't we talk about that foolish magician?"

...

"Oh yes," Dutch nodded from where he, Celina and Hosea sat across from the sheriff's desk as they waited for Arthur to return with results, "I agree, we must work to clean up America. Those scum we've got robbing folk, standing against everything we're working for, they've most certainly got to be done away with." Dutch looked over at Celina and squeezed her hand affectionately, "This poor lass, Celina, she had been terrorized, her home broken into one night, her gentleman friend killed. We've got to put a stop to this- immediately."

Celina nodded, doing her best to appear as if she were fighting back tears, "My Justin, h-he."

The sheriff offered a small smile of sympathy, "I am sorry for your loss miss." He leaned forward in his chair and looked her in the eyes, clearly sincere in his words, "I assure you, we will not stop our hunt for these men until the streets are clean."

She nodded with a sniffle and looked over to Dutch, searching for a source of comfort. It was then that they heard a voice outside, "Alright, here you go," The voice was unmistakably Arthur's.

Dutch and Celina stood up with Sheriff Gray and made their way outside to see Arthur and Archibald with one of the Anderson boys hogtied and at Arthur's feet. Dutch was the first one to say anything, "See? I told you boys Arthur would deliver!" He sounded proud, truly proud.

Sheriff Gray observed the scene before him with approval, "Excellent, I couldn't have done this without you." His gaze locked on Arthur, "Thank you so much."

Arthur nodded at him once, "My honor."

Dutch butted in, "So what do you say about our friend?" He gestured over to Trelawny who remained in the back of the wagon.

Sheriff Gray sighed, "As long as they're be no more trouble, he's free to go." Making good on his word, he took out his keys and unlocked they cell, holding open the door for Trelawny as he climbed out.

Celina wanted to roll her eyes at the magician as he spoke, knowing that his act with the Sheriff was just that- an act, "Oh thank you sheriff, I promise you that this was all just a big misunderstanding. Sincerely, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, however."

The sheriff, after ignoring Trelawny's thanks, turned back to Dutch, appreciation on his face, "And Mr. Macintosh, I thank you for your assistance as well. The good citizens of Rhodes all thank you and we welcome you with open hearts."

Celina had to turn turn away to keep her uncontrollable humorous smile from being seen by the Sheriff or his deputy. She listened though, as this was perhaps her second most amusing experience since she had been found by the gang.

Dutch laid on the charm thick, "We're truly honored to be here."

"Keep your friend out of trouble, we don't need any more trouble. Got some old timers who have just... lost their dignity."

Dutch tried to sound empathetic, "How terrible."

In her strain to keep from bursting out laughing at his tone, she did actually choke and ended up in a coughing fit, Trelawny eyeing her with humor sparkling in his green eyes, "Are you ok, miss?" His voice also held amusement, he wasn't fooled on what had made her start coughing, he had seen how hard she had struggled to keep from laughing at Dutch. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she could see Arthur smirk a bit at her, Hosea looking as if he were intentionally trying not to look her way.

"Yes," she nodded, trying to play it off in the case the law was paying her any attention, "I just- I think a bug flew down my throat. Or I inhaled it... something- something happened." Somehow, her trying to explain herself made the situation even funnier and holding in a laugh, she returned around to see that the Sheriff and his deputy had gone inside. Unable to contain it a moment longer, she was forced to let it out, humorous tears streaking down her face.

The boys all looked at her in amusement themselves, letting lose considering they no longer had to act so serious. Dutch chuckled with the rest of them, "I see you found amusement in that, miss Knoll."

She took a deep breath to try to collect herself, and let out another short laugh as the five of them began to walk away from the sheriffs office, "Oh, you have no idea. You guys are- you're golden."

There was another shared laugh amongst them and then Trelawny spoke up, studying her with interest, "In speaking of no idea, I don't believe we've met, my dear."

Celina shook her head, turning her attention to the formal-dressed man, "No, we haven't, I'm Celina, Celina Knoll."

Trelawny smiled charmingly and took her gloved hand in his before dropping to his knee before her and placing a kiss on it. He looked up at her from that angle, eyes sparkling mischeviously, "Josiah Trelawny at your service."

...

A/N: Longest chapter yet guys! Just couldn't find a stopping point for this one until... you know... I did ? but anyway, what do you guys think?

Always happy to read and respond to questions/comments. They do inspire me to write! I just loved this chapter you guys, writing Dutch being a sweetheart with Celina, them putting on a total front, Trelawny being charming... I love writing this stuff lol.

Hope you guys enjoyed as much as I did!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	18. Chapter 18

"So," Dutch eyed Trelawny as he stood to his feet, "Where have you been?"

Breaking his attention from the stunning girl before him, Trelawny looked over at Dutch, "Oh you know, the usual here, there. At the moment I'm staying in a Caravan behind the church on the outskirts of town. It's quite unpleasant, really." The gang continued walking through the town, Trelawny leading, "I must say, this town is trapped in an interminable feud between the two plantation houses, the Braithwaites and the Greys. It's all over different falling outs, rebel gold, marrying cousins and not marrying."

Celina screwed up her face in disgust, looking over at Dutch who looked equally as disgusted. He chuckled a bit though, "That's.. interesting."

"Oh, most definately." Trelawny fell silent for a moment before speaking, his voice full of sincerity and energy, "I missed you boys! I was hoping to see the lot of you soon, expecially hearing about the bounties."

Dutch grunted, "There's been a bounty on my head for thirteen years, they're not gonna find us down here for months."

The magician didn't seem so sure, it caught Celina's attention when he sunk his cane deeper into the ground then necessary. Still, his voice remained calm, "I understand that Dutch, but these are some serious bounties. I was told of them by some fellers at the state line. There's talk of it in bars from the east to the west for five hundred miles. Talk of super agents, even."

Dutch laughed, being the only one to do so, the fact that he didn't seem concerned making her uneasy, "It's only talk my friend, but I'd love to meet one of them... super agents."

The magician inhaled deeply, "That it is, Dutch, but I just couldn't not tell you." At that, he bowed dramatically, "Take care, my boys." He straightened again before taking Celina's gloved hand in his once more and placing his lips on the back of her hand in a soft kiss. He winked at her before turning on his heel and heading away from the group. As he walked away, he called over his shoulder, "You be as well, miss Knoll."

She smiled back at him, raising her hand in goodbye before turning back to Dutch, Arthur and Hosea. Dutch had a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite read, maybe jealousy? The idea made her laugh, she decided she would have a bit of fun. Gesturing back to the direction Trelawny took off in, she smiled, "I like him."

Arthur chuckled, "Josiah's a good guy."

Dutch nodded after hesitating a moment, she could tell he was trying to read what she meant by that, "He is indeed."

Hosea changed the subject, "Are we all still going on that fishing trip? It's not far out from here- the spot I know."

Celina nodded eagerly, looking over at the older man, "I'm in if you guys are."

Arthur agreed silently, Dutch confirming, "Sounds like a plan to me."

...

The four of them climbed into the abandoned canoe they had pushed off the bank of the lake, Hosea sitting on one end and Arthur in the middle with Dutch on the other end. The other two men stared wide-eyed at him when he pulled her into his lap. Celina laughed, catching their expressions as she snuggled into the leader, "You guys look like you saw a ghost."

Hosea nodded quickly, "Oh we did, just about."

Dutch chuckled, Celina feeling the vibrations of it against her back, "You two just mind your own business. Arthur, you better get to paddling boy, before it gets too late."

The youngest cowboy shook his head, a smile playing on his face as he began to row, "I'm glad to see you like this, Dutch."

Celina couldn't fight the blush that crept onto her cheeks at the thought of being so obviously good for him. She tipped her head back at an angle and he met her lips with his, keeping the kiss short and appropriate for the trip.

"So," Hosea broke the silence, "Celina, are things going as they did according to history as you know it or is the original path fading away?"

Celina leaned back into Dutch, making eye contact with Hosea, "Some things have changed... luckily."

"Such as?"

"Arthur never went bounty collecting for Strauss... no one got the chance to since I saw that his book was ruined and lost. I had to do it," She shrugged, "I couldn't risk Arthur- nor anyone else for that matter getting TB... one of the men Strauss would have had us collect from would have given it to Arthur if Arthur had went to collect. Probably would have given it to anyone that collected from him."

Hosea's and Arthur's eyes widened, the old man being the one to speak, "Well, my dear. That's wonderful of you to have done such a thing like that. We all appreciate it greatly, even at the expense of losing the money from it that we did."

Arthur kept rowing, holding her eye contact with sincerity, "I will forever be in your debt, I had no idea."

Celina shrugged, "You're all welcome, really, I just couldn't bare to to let history write itself with any of you guys getting sick like that."

Hosea kept his focus on Dutch, as if assessing his old friend, a knowing smile flickered across his lips, "Dutch, you knew the whole time."

His arms loosened from around her as he rested them on the edge of the canoe, "I've got to say, the woman has an excellent taste of who she can trust."

Celina bit her lip thoughtfully, "I sure hope so."

After chuckling at her clear threat, Dutch spoke again, "Arthur, you can stop here. This should be a good spot."

The four of them stood to their feet once the canoe was stopped, the men picking up their fishing rods from the floor where they had sat them pre-assembled, Dutch handing her the extra one he had brought along. Celina smiled misceviously as she took it from him, "Thank you, for the... rod." She couldn't help but blushing as she said it, yes, it had meant to be a suggestive joke but she hadn't thought she'd be making herself blush with it. Her face redenned further under the amused and shocked gazes of the three men, she could have sworn Dutch was blushing ever so slightly. She found it rather adorable and highly amusing to see such a proud man blush.

He cleared his throat, "Well, miss Knoll, all you had to do was ask."

That made her blush even harder, she was very much certain that she was as red as could be. Hosea's voice held a tone of certainty, "Yeah, she'll be a fine member of the gang, no doubt about that."

Arthur nodded in agreement, "Fits in with the best of us."

"Hey," Dutch changed the subject, "This reminds me, Hosea, of the first time we sent Arthur out fishing by himself. Oh it had to be a good fifteen years ago, he was twenty-one, maybe twenty?"

Arthur groaned, "Really, Dutch? Not this again."

Hosea chuckled, "Oh most definately this again, boy. Do you want to tell it, Dutch?"

"I most definately do. Anyway, we sent Arthur out fishing- he was gone all day. When he finally returns, he's towing in three huge, beautiful bass- enough to feed us for a good couple days. We toasted to him all night, were so proud of him." Dutch slowly reeled in the line a bit, "Anyway, we went into town the next day and the butcher there stopped us. He asked Arthur how he enjoyed the bass! That kid, it was the running joke for weeks."

Celina laughed with them, looking over to Arthur who was shaking his head, smiling despite himself, "The way you guys tell it, it still is."

"Oh, it most definately is, Arthur, don't you question that." Hosea teased, keeping his attention focused on his bobber."

She found herself wanting to tell them, to reveal the truth about Micah then and there to the three men who knew the truth about what she knew. She wanted to tell them so badly that it was almost to the point she felt as if the words were going to force their way out of her mouth one way or another. She glanced at poor ol' Hosea, her mind flashing to what the future would hold for him if she refused to do anything. She couldn't let that happen, even with what happened with Strauss, she couldn't just let Hosea die, not like that. She had liked him enough just as someone from history, now? Knowing him personally? She couldn't let it happen. Even if she didn't care, she strongly attributed his death to the further downspiral of Dutch. Dutch who, Well- although they hadn't clarified whether they were exclusive or not, she felt as if she belonged to him in heart, body, mind and soul.

That was when she felt a tug on the line and she jerked the pole sharply, successfully hooking the fish and starting the battle to reel it in. She saw Dutch look over at her in approval, "Hopefully it's a good one."

She nodded, pulling the rod to the side to fight the fish's attempt to run with the line, "It feels like it won't be too disappointing."

...

About an hour or so went by with group catching a good assortment of fish, the sack that Hosea had brought along stuffed practically to the brim and placed between Arthur's feet as he began paddling back towards the camp after Hosea deciding that they wouldn't return the canoe to its rightful owners after all but instead keep it for themselves.

Celina was looking forward to having it at camp having enjoyed her time out on the water with the men. The best part about it was that the day was still young and she was sure she and Dutch could find a way to enjoy it.

"You know what we need?" Dutch looked at each of them excitedly, it was truly good to see him enjoying himself, "A song. Why don't you start us off with one, Hosea?"

The older man took a moment to think about what to sing before starting the song, Arthur, Dutch and even Celina since she was familiar with the song jumping right into the song with him.

"I asked that girl to give me some,

Mmm hmmm mmm hmmm,

I asked that girl to give me some, she said wait till the taters is done,

Mmm hmmm mmm hmmm,

I couldn't wait till the taters was done,

Mmm hmmm mmm hmmm,

I couldn't wait till the taters was done,

Threw her on the floor and knocked out some,

Mmm hmmm mmm hmmm,

I wish to God I'd passed her by,

Mmmm hmmm mmm hmmm,

I wish to God I'd passed her by,

Taters got burnt and so did I!"

When the song ended, the four of them laughed joyously. "Celina, my dear," Hosea spoke in approval, "I've got to say, I didn't expect you to be able to recite that song so well."

She shrugged a bit awkwardly, "Yea, they kinda... they kinda incorporate some of the songs from this time into Red Dead Redemption in 2018. I swear I was only a little bit obsessed." They chuckled a bit more at that good-naturedly before Dutch spoke, changing the tone of the conversation to her disappointment.

"Celina here says we have a traitor in the gang."

Celina moved from his lap to sit beside him so she would be able to look at him better, "You're choosing now to bring that up?"

The leader nodded, "As good a time as any, so I want both of you to keep an eye open for anything that you find to be unusual or suspicious for someone to be doing. All of us know the rules about traitors."

Celina swallowed, could she really stay quiet? Would letting them know really hurt anything? She took a deep breath. As Dutch had brought it up after her having already fought against the opportunity to let the cat out of the bag, she was all the more tempted. Could she tell them?

Arthur was immediately red enough with anger at the news about the traitor that Celina wouldn't have been surprised if smoke started coming out of his ears, "Who could that really be, anyway?" He set his jaw, "I know, I bet it's that Kierian... that O'Dri-"

She had had enough and definately didn't want to think about the kid getting grilled for something that to her knowledge, he had nothing to do with. The day had been going great, and then she had to go and reference back to the things she knew.

The three of them were staring at her intently, obviously waiting for her- hoping for her to confirm or deny Arthur's accusations. She took a deep breath, she couldn't just do nothing. It was then that she resented having a good heart, "It's not Kierian. That kid hasn't done anything. As far as I know, he's innocent."

The look on Dutch's face was one of betrayal. Of course it would be, if their essential prisoner wasn't the one who either was or would eventually betray him- them, than that left only actual members of the gang to be the one sneaking around behind his back. When he spoke, his voice was low, controlled to the best of his ability and shaking slightly, "Who is it then?"

She looked to Hosea hoping that he would help her out of the situation, seeing empathy in his gentle eyes, "Can you please, Hosea?"

The older man sighed, "No matter what I say, dear, they're still going to look to you to give them the answer. If you don't, you know how Dutch gets."

Dutch screwed up his face in annoyance, "What do you mean, how I get?"

Hosea opened his mouth in attempt to defuse his best friend but Celina spoke before he could, Arthur now silent with grief over the thought of having a rat in the camp, "You start refusing to trust anyone, Dutch. I tried to tell you a little while ago about the rat and I told you I'll tell you when I need to. I don't- I don't want to mess anything up."

Dutch wrapped his left arm around her waist comfortingly, "I know you're not comfortable with telling us everything, especially so soon after Strauss... I'm telling you now though, now is the time for you tell us who it is." When she said nothing, he continued, "Not telling us at this point is nearly protecting the traitor."

Celina closed her eyes slowly, that's what she was afraid of, right there- being in a position where they wouldn't accept her not telling them. She couldn't, she just couldn't, could she? Choices, there was so many choices as to what and what not to say, so much pressure she felt as if she could crumble beneath it, "I'm not protecting him. I wouldn't ever."

"Him?" It was Arthur who had asked the question.

She hadn't even intended to reveal that detail, it had just slipped out in a way, "Yes... him."

Dutch scooted to the edge of his seat, "Celina, if you just tell us, we can fix this, things will be so much easier."

"You all think that," she ran her hands through her black hair, "None of you are the ones who got Strauss killed last time you tried to help."

Everyone was quiet at that for a moment, Dutch being the one who dared to push, but more softly, "Please, miss Knoll, if you'll just tell us..."

She almost felt like a terrible person, withholding the information as to who was betraying- or would be betraying them in the near future. Was withholding the information right? The three of them were aware what had happened last time she revealed something and that it got Strauss killed. They knew the risks and yet they still all seemed willing to take the risk. "Fine," she ground out the word with no thin layer of attitude, "But if I tell you and it backfires, it's on the three of you. Not me- you. I'm not the one that wanted this and that's not to be forgotten." She made eye contact with each of them, conveying how truly serious she was being, "Understand?" They all nodded, and she took a moment to collect herself, "You guys really want to know who the rat is? It's fucking Micah."

...

A/N: ... It's out, Micah has finally been revealed by Celina as the rat! Things are only going to get more interesting from here.

Please give me some comments on this one guys, truly looking forward to reading everyone's thoughts on this chapter and possibly future events!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	19. Chapter 19

"No," Dutch shook his head, forcing a laugh, "Micah wouldn't do such a thing."

Celina cast him a look of irritation, "Seriously, Dutch? You've known the guy for a few months and you really think you know him that well? Why would I lie to you? The man is a ticking time-bomb and because of him, people you love- people we love are in great danger of losing their lives."

"I believe it," Arthur spoke up, "I never liked the guy from the start... Dutch, what are we going to do?"

Dutch was too shocked at Celina's response to give an answer, so Hosea answered for him, "I think at this point, it would be best if none of us did anything... I say we play dumb, don't let him in on any plans, act as if we still trust him."

Celina let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, "That is what I was hoping we could agree too." That was Hosea, the voice of reason, and now, it seemed like he may be around quite a while longer.

Dutch twisted the rings on his fingers thoughtfully, "You guys know the rules."

Celina swallowed and grabbed at his arm lightly, "Dutch, please, you've got to trust this- me," she gestured to Hosea and looked back at the leader pleadingly, "us."

The look on his face of uncertainty was unsettling, making Celina wander if she had done the right thing. Had she? She hoped to God she had. Dutch, he just didn't look like someone who seemed convinced, "If he is the traitor, we do away with him."

"No!" Celina's voice almost came out in a cry, "You can't do that, Dutch."

His voice immediately turned to a cold, defensive tone, "You're telling me I can't do it?" It was a challenge, making Celina's heart race wildly.

"Now, Dutch," Hosea attempted to get him to think clearly, "You need to take a deep breath and think about this, Celina's advice about what we should do is quite valuable, she- unlike us, has seen the potential future."

Arthur scratched at his stubbly beard in thought, "They're right, Dutch. If we kill Micah now, it could mess everything up... to the point that not even Celina can predict what will happen. We need her help, I think we should play Micah for what it's worth and come out on top."

"Fine," Dutch sighed, looking at the three of them with a look of defeat, "Have it your way. I suppose we'll beat him at his own game."

As the words left his lips, Celina felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest. It was going to be ok, she had done the right thing and everything was going to be alright, for now anyway. Still, they would have to be cautious when planning anything, they would have to ensure details of heists did not make their way to Micah's traitorous ears... the trick was going to be getting everyone else in camp who would be involved in heists to keep their mouths shut about it. They could no longer have information freely floating amongst the gang. She offered Dutch a small smile, trying to get his mind off how his idea of doing things wasn't a solid plan to the rest of them, "I promise, Dutch, this is going to be for the best, it's a good plan."

Dutch offered a small smile back, "I sure hope so, I really hope so."

...

Back at camp, Hosea hauled the sack of fresh fish back to Pearsons butcher station, Celina wondering why Arthur hadn't offered to carry it for him considering how heavy it looked for the older man.

"Celina," she looked in Dutch's direction, he having been the one to call her name, "Come here."

Without question, she started over to Dutch, following him into his tent and immediately seeing the new mattress which he had promised her, on his bed. She smiled, originally, she thought that he had wanted to talk to her about what she had just revealed to Arthur, Hosea and himself, "Miss Grimshaw picked it up while we were out and about."

"It's nice," she walked over to it and pressed down on the mattress, checking that it was comfortable and feeling pleased, "I like it."

Dutch dipped his head, pleased, "I hope you would. So, I expect that you will be coming to stay with me tonight?"

She bit down on her bottom lip nervously as she thought about Molly. How would the red-head react to her officially taking her place in Dutch's life? She wanted to say yes, she had told Dutch she would, but now that she thought about it more, "I don't know, Dutch. I'd love to... maybe some nights but I just don't know if I feel comfortable with Molly being in camp with us... what if she decides to retaliate? I do think she loved- or loves you."

Dutch was silent for a moment but his expression was one of someone who didn't care, "Molly is a grown woman, if she wants to leave us, she is more than welcome to."

Celina clenched her jaw, "I will move in with you, Dutch, but not just yet. Really, I didn't think you'd honestly get a new bed this soon.."

Dutch crossed his arms, "So it was an excuse?"

"No," she shook her head, "Not an excuse, not at all, I was honest with how I felt, with what I told you. I just think it's soon for me to completely move in. I don't want to totally disrespect her feelings."

The man sighed, "I expect you'll stay with me at least this first night."

Celina smiled up at him, her heart beginning to race in anticipation of what the night would hold. It would only be their second time, actually... yea, together. It would be their second time together and this time, she didn't have to feel so guilty. She nodded, "Yea, I'll be here for the night."

"And..."

Her expression turned to one of confusion, "And what?"

He raised a brow suggestively, "And you'll keep me company now." At that, Dutch pulled the entrance to his tent closed and walked up to her slowly, an almost predatory, hungry look in his eyes.

She stood there in the middle of his tent, refusing to take her eyes off him. He wrapped his strong arms around her, crushing her lips passionately with his. Celina immediately kissed him back, her right hand going up to his soft, wavy hair.

She moaned into his mouth as his tongue entered her mouth, massaging against hers in a way that made her weak in the knees. She had been wanting this from him for the last few days, ever since they had made things right between the two of them. Seductively, she bit down on his bottom lip and pulled lightly, earning a moan from him.

She smiled before letting go and kissing him again, then starting to trail her lips along his thick jawline, he tilting his head back, surrendering to her as she licked and nipped at his skin lightly all the way down to the collar of his shirt.

Finding himself again, Dutch pushed her back onto his bed, she squirming quickly to move so that she was laying on it fully, her head on his new pillows. She watched him, every nerve in her body alight in anticipation of what was to come next.

Dutch studied her for a moment before slowly unbuttoning his vest and then his dress shirt and letting them drop to the ground. She ate up the sight of him, he was a truly beautiful man, his pecks defined deliciously, abs natural and distinct. He wore a chain around his neck, a ring hanging from it and settling on his chest, making him somehow sexier if possible.

Dutch smiled at her as he climbed onto the bed and hovered right above her. She thought he was going to kiss her, instead his lips going straight to her neck, making her hips buck against his.

...

"You really do like cozying up to the sheriff, don't you?" Celina teased from where she laid propped up on her arm beside Dutch in his bed. Her free hand absentmindedly played with his hair, delighting in threading her fingers through it.

"No where better to hide than in plain sight. Also, getting into the sheriff's good graces is only going to make it easier to play those two plantation houses against one another. Just like stealing candy from a baby."

Celina chuckled at the thought of the big, bad Van Der Linde gang literally stealing candy from a baby. The laugh made him look at her in question and she laughed again, "I'm just kinda picturing all of you stealing candy from babies... that's all." She shrugged non-chalantly.

If anything ever had before, Dutch's laughter at her dry joke make Celina's heart soar. Never had she expected the man beside her to have such a pure, joyous, genuine laugh. She laughed a bit herself, taking in the rare beauty of the moment. Dutch calmed down after a few moments, she thought she could see tears in his eyes, his face redenned, "You my dear, are a funny woman. I never even-" he laughed again after seeming to picture the scene and just shook his head.

It was that moment in bed with him that the girl knew she was a gonner, a total sucker for Dutch Van Der Linde. In fact, in that moment, she felt at if her heart couldn't be more full. She warned him though, as she had to, "I really think we should be careful with those plantation houses though. Don't be pegging them to be dumb."

Dutch shook his head, "They ain't gonna figure anything out, and if they do we'll be long gone by then."

She licked her lips, "I know that isn't true, Dutch."

"You do?"

She nodded slowly, almost hesitant to reveal yet another thing, "Yes... if we play both the sides, they're going to end up laying a trap for us. You and the guys would go into Rhodes, under invatation to meet with either the Greys or the Braithwaites... I can't remember which. But you do, and before any of you know it, Sean gets shot in the head and then it's all out war."

Dutch stared ahead for a moment, Celina practically being able to see the wheels in his head turning. Honestly, by the look on his face, she was worried about what exactly it was that he was thinking. It was obvious that he was- or thought he was, coming up with a plan, "I have a plan brewing already, it's a good one."

The woman rolled her eyes, she adored him but she had lost track of how many times she had heard him use the phrase, 'I have a plan'. "Dutch, I'm telling you, this isn't a good idea."

He shook his head, "It's a great idea, as long as we stay on top and play our hand right. No one has to get hurt on either side."

"Dutch..."

"You've got to trust me," he squeezed her hand gently, "You're right, this won't work if I have you guys doubting me. So," He held her gaze, "Are you going to be with me on this, or against me?"

Celina took a deep breath, images of Sean's death flashing through her mind, almost making her want to scream. She didn't know the Irish boy too well, actually thought him to be rather obnoxious at times but that didn't mean she wanted to see him die. She cared about each and every member of the gang... except Molly... and Micah, and she didn't care for Bill too much... Pearson was strange, but everyone else, she cared about- truly. She didn't want to see anyone die- except Micah, and she was willing to protect them to the best of her ability. But, sometimes, she realized being loyal would be standing by the gang, even if she didn't necessarily agree with the plan. Loving Dutch- yes, she was convinced she loved him, sometimes meant that she would have to support him even in her times of doubt, with those thoughts in mind, she nodded, "Of course I'm with you." She gave him a small, but worried smile, "I just hope things don't go to crap."

Dutch pressed a chaste kiss to her lips before climbing it of the bed, Celina openly admiring his naked body. She whistled at him quietly as he pulled on his pants, earning a confident smirk from him. She laid there for another moment, watching as he picked up and put on his shirt, then his vest before turning to her, "Are you going to get dressed and head into town with me?"

She yawned and snuggled deeper into the comfortable covers, "Yea, I will... you seem to want me by your side an awful lot." She had to say it, tease him a bit and narrowed her eyes at him in playful suspicion.

Dutch nodded, not a trace of humor upon his face nor in his voice, "Of course I want you by my side, every chance I get. Who wouldn't? Now common, get dressed and we'll head on out. Oh, and we're gonna take Bill with us."

...

A/N: Yea, I know, short chapter but I wanted to give you guys one today and didn't want to jump right into them being deputized by sheriff Gray. Kinda a filler chapter with no action but I suppose those are bound to happen from time to time, but anyway... let me know what you guys think?

And also, forgot to ask, what're your guy's thoughts about her first interaction with Trelawny? I'm going to love writing scenes between the two of them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	20. Chapter 20

Dutch exchanged a look of subtle amusement with Celina from where they sat across from sheriff Gray's desk. He was drunk, to say the least, so much for a sheriff... "Oh, I agree, Mr. Gray, this town certainly has a great amount of potential."

Bill sat off to the side of the desk, nodding silently in agreement. As for her? She was lucky to not laugh at how fake the two of them were being with the Sheriff. It was hilarious, at least she found it to be, little did the poor sheriff know that he was keeping company with some of the members of possibly the most notorious gang in the wild west.

The door to the sheriff's office opened, Arthur walking in and rolling his eyes at Dutch who was acting like the most pleasant man in the world. Dutch looked up at him from where he sat, excitement in his dark eyes, "And here is my good friend, Arthur Callahan. Boy is a hunter, boy isss a killer! Arthur," he addressed him, "You haven't been officially introduced to Mr- I'm sorry, sheriff Gray."

Sheriff Gray reached out and shook hands with Arthur, Celina watching with great amusement. Sheriff Gray seemed to be quite a fool, "How're you doing, sir?"

Arthur let go of his hand and took a step back, "I'm fine."

"Tough business you boys had."

Dutch looked surprised, "We did?"

The sheriff looked knowingly at Dutch, a bit of empathy in his eyes, "Don't you go pretending around me now, I know first hand how rough life can be." He pointed to Arthur while standing up and walking over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "And this one, I believe was personally wronged, losing his employment like he did." Arthur sent Dutch a look of confusion, "Still, I believe we have enough work for good, honest men." At that, the Sheriff turned and walked out of the building, only to fall flat on his face as soon as he made it out the door, it swinging closed behind him.

Being left alone in the sheriff's office, Celina, Bill, Dutch and Arthur were all finally able to laugh at the disorderly sheriff. It was Celina who voiced what they were all thinking though, "Some sheriff."

Dutch shook his head in mention of Sheriff Gray, "I told you all we was moving up in this world," he grabbed three deputy badges off of the sheriff's desk, "Dep-ut-ies." He proceeded to pin a badge on Arthur, Bill, and then himself.

Celina gestured to Bill in disbelief, "Seriously? You give Bill a badge but not me?"

Bill looked at her as if her comment offended him, "What's what supposed to mean?"

Dutch started at him for a moment as if assessing how stupid he was before waving him off, "Nothing, Bill. She meant nothing by that." He then addressed Celina again, "You know what Sheriff Gray said, you were sitting here, this is what he wanted." He nodded, "A little liquor never dulled a good man's senses."

Arthur inhaled deeply, picking at the badge which Dutch had pinned on him, "You have finally lost your mind."

The leader turned on his heel, looking at his right-hand-man as if he weren't the one thinking clearly, "Amongst these hillbillies, drunkards and slavers? Good honest theives like us are bound to be moralizers."

Celina laughed, "I'm not sure the words, good, honest, and theives really mix."

At that, the door swung back open and in staggered Sheriff Gray, a short laugh slipping from Celina. Dutch looked surprised, gesturing to him in humorous greeting, "Sheriff Gray, you are back!"

The sheriff leaned on a wooden chair, relying on it to hold him up, "There is shine in them woods, and it's costing the county it's good name and this state a whole lot of income. If you boys," he paused, "And lady." He staggered back over to his desk, Dutch moving out of his way with an amused smirk, "If you don't mind rooting this out, I just may make you permanent around here."

Dutch perked up, "Not a problem at all." He looked over at Celina, Arthur, and Bill, "You all heard the man, let's get to getting this town cleaned up."

They exited the sheriff's office quickly then, Arthur climbing into the wagon with Archibald who had been waiting for them outside. Celina, despite herself, mounted her stallion and set her mind on the ironic task at hand... working on the side of the law.

Archibald urged the wagon forward, Celina, Dutch and Bill following. Celina couldn't help but staring at Bill's tank of a horse for a second, it wasn't too often that she was out and about with Bill... she had to say the horse alone would be intimidating to see racing after someone. Seeing Bill notice her staring at his horse, she decided she had to say something, "That's a fine horse, Bill."

Bill nodded at her and grunted in thanks but other than that, she didn't get much of a response. She looked away, rolling her eyes at the big dumb of the group.

"I just want to remind the four of you, there is a chain of command here." It was of course Archibald who spoke from the wagon up front.

Arthur turned around to peer back at the group, "Did you hear that guys? Archibald wants to remind us that he is the one in charge."

Dutch was the first one to acknowledge it, "Of course, who else would be?"

Bill grunted, "Understood."

Celina nodded although Archibald wouldn't be able to see the gesture, "Sounds good to me."

"Glad that's clear," Celina figured the actual deputy was probably nearly yelling so all of them could hear him from where they rode behind him, over the heavy beat of the horses hooves against the dirt road. "How's your friend doing? Staying out of trouble I hope?"

"He sure is." Celina could just barely make out Arthur's answer. It made her wonder if the magician really was behaving himself, somehow, she highly doubted that was the case..

Archibald continued to talk, more to Arthur than anyone really, although Celina could pick out snippets of their conversation. It seemed that Archibald was letting out some information regarding the Braithwaites... likely nothing that she wasn't already aware of, but still, the snippets she caught were rather interesting. Former slave owners... disgusting.

Finally, Archibald slowed the wagon to a stop, having seen a wrecked wagon out from the side of the road. He climbed down from the wagon slowly, "This really doesn't look good, all of you, stay back here."

The four of them did as they were told without question. Celina studied the sight before her, she knew who had done it, the Lemoyne Raiders. She glanced over at Dutch who was staring in the direction of the actual deputy as well, "I'll bet you Archibald concludes it's the Lemoyne Raiders."

He looked over at her, shaking his head, "No can do. I know better than to make such a bet with you."

Celina laughed and looked over at Bill, "Hey, Bill?"

He snapped out of whatever world he was mentally in, "What?"

She pointed at the wrecked wagon, trying to block out the look of amusement from Dutch which almost made her fail at keeping a straight face, "I'll bet you fifty dollars that that scene out there, is blamed on the Lemoyne Raiders. What do you say?"

Bill studied the scene before them as if there were actually a thought in his mind. Finally, he nodded with a grunt, "Fine, it's a bet."

Dutch chipped in, "I wouldn't be surprised if in a few months they look back on this and blame it on us too. That's the thing about being bad guys, you get so much more credit for things than what you really did."

Celina chuckled, watching Archibald wave Arthur over, "You got that right."

Again, it was funny to see the gang acting like genuine good guys, on the side of the law and against men like they truly were... although, Celina didn't believe the gang was evil, they definately weren't wonderful men. Arthur hopped down from the wagon like he had been a lawman for years, walking out to the scene under Archibald's command. She just had to comment, "It's weird to see him checking out a crime instead of committing it."

Bill laughed to her surprise and so did Dutch, "It sure is. These fools in these parts going around making men they've seen twice in their lives deputies."

Celina shook her head, "He hadn't even seen Bill before though, right? He deputized him just cause he was with you?"

Bill nodded although the question wasn't even directed to him, "Yes ma'am."

"And here they come," Dutch nodded towards Arthur and Archibald as they made their way back to them, "Hey, Archibald, who are you thinking did that out there?"

Archibald sighed, "If I were to make the call myself, I'd have to say a gang out here who call themselves the Lemoyne Raiders... they're a ruthless bunch they are, killing good men like that. And for what?"

Dutch attempted to show sympathy towards the situation, his crap easily seen through by anyone who really knew him. For deputy Archibald though, his act wasn't thought of as a lie, not for one second, "I'm very sorry, deputy. We'll get those men for what they've done- what they do. Nothing in this world constitutes such terrible behavior."

Celina forced herself to tear up although Archibald wasn't close enough to see her watery eyes, it would help her perfect the voice, "I'm not sure if you remember, but my husband was killed by the likes of these."

Archibald cast her a small, sympathetic smile as Dutch reached out and patted her shoulder comfortingly, "I am so sorry for your loss miss."

Celina shook her head and then nodded, "Thank you, mister. And thank you for letting me come along, I just can't bare to be apart from my dear Hoagy... I- I just fear something awful happening to him too."

"I assure you miss," Archibald stood to the side of the wagon, having stopped to hold eye contact with her before climbing up and into it, "All of us on the side of the law are going to do our best to ensure nothing like what you had to go through will ever happen again." He then climbed up into the wagon, Arthur climbing in after him and then the group started off once more.

Celina glanced back at Bill, "I'll be expecting you to pay up when we get back home."

"I know, I know."

Celina laughed and Dutch spoke to Bill as well, "What were you thinking, making a bet that heavy, Bill? Obviously she was comfortable enough to make it."

Bill sounded irritated, his voice picking up it's signature whine, "I don't know, I wasn't thinking is all."

Dutch maintained his pace right by Celina, "Oh, is that so?" The comment made Celina snort in amusement.

"Bill whined again, shut up, Dutch, just focus on what you're doing, would ya?"

The leader chuckled but relented, falling into silence like the others for the rest of the ride.

...

"This is it," Archibald brought the wagon to a stop by the trees surrounding the swamp and quickly but quietly climbed down from the wagon along with Arthur. Celina, Dutch and Bill dismounted their horses and made their way through a few trees before crouching down behind some shrubbery to avoid being seen.

Archibald spoke, peering out from the shrubbery and scoping the area with experienced eyes, "There looks to be a couple men both to the right and left, we'll have to split up and take them out quietly. No killing. Just tie them up and bring them back out to the wagon."

The four of them nodded, Dutch speaking, "Archibald and I will take the right, Arthur, Bill, you two take the left. Celina, you shouldn't be left over here alone, who do you want to go with?"

Celina looked between the two options quickly, she felt as if she would be less stressed going with Arthur and Bill. There would be too much pressure if she went with Dutch, she needed to be able to stay calm and think rationally just in the case something would go wrong, "I'll go with Arthur."

Dutch's brows rose in surprise but he nodded, not questioning her choice, "Alright, so you will."

She, Bill and Arthur parted ways from Dutch and Archibald, going off in their decided directions. Bill led the way, Celina finding it funny to see such a large man trying to move about undetected, "We stay low and we stay quiet. Understood?"

Arthur snickered, "Yes, deputy Williamson."

"Oh, shut up."

Celina rolled her eyes, was this why the saying 'girls mature faster than boys' had been around so long? She thought so. For her, she was just excited to be a part of some legal action for once, "Would you two stop bickering? We need to focus."

Bill scoffed back at her, "Who died and put you in charge?"

Her retort was quick and sharp, "You if you don't shut your trap."

Arthur chuckled and Celina looked around in mild concern, if those fools got them noticed with their immaturity... She knew she should have went with Dutch and Archibald. Saying no more, the three of them made their way across the swamp, Celina screwing up her nose in disgust at the repugnant smell of the water. Even with her newfound plan to shower immediately upon getting back into town, she was convinced the smell would be one to linger, at least a day or so.

The three of them stopped behind the raised bank, using it to hide from the man on the ground just above them. Arthur spoke, his voice a whisper, "Bill, do you want to take him out, or so you want me to?"

"You get him, Arthur, I'll tie him."

Arthur nodded and crept up the bank slowly, Celina and Bill staying where they were for a moment before moving up the back themselves, Bill expertly hog-tying the man in seconds. "There's one more over there, Arthur," Bill pointed a little ways away, "I'll take him out and we can meet Dutch over by the wagon."

Arthur nodded and stayed crouched next to the unconscious body, Celina crouched next to Arthur, the balls of her feet hurting due to the position, "This is about to turn into a shoot-out, Arthur. Right after you come back other here and blow up that moonshine."

Arthur took a deep breath, "Of course it will."

Celina nodded, "Get used to it, because we're going to be seeing a lot of it within these next months. It's only going to get worse, but I'm hoping we'll all get through it. You guys just have to trust me."

He kept his eyes trained on Bill as he approached, standing straight and tall with the man he had knocked out slung over his shoulder. Celina and Arthur stood up as well, taking Bill's actions as a sign that the coast was clear for the time being. Arthur slung the unconscious man in front of himself over his own shoulder and followed behind Bill, Celina bringing up the rear, staring down into the disgusting water as they crossed one of the swamps bridges. Who knew what was in there? She for one couldn't say she wanted to find out.

Celina smiled naturally upon seeing leaning against the wagon and smoking the pipe she had gotten him all those weeks back. Archibald gave them a small wave upon seeing the unconscious men being successfully hauled in, "You can just drop them down there next to the other two." Bill and Arthur nonchalantly did just that, Celina cringing, seeing how harshly the drops seemed.

Bill pointed out to the shack they had passed, filled with moonshine, "They've got a stash out there, what would you like us to do with it, boss?" It was unclear as to whether he was referring to Dutch or Archibald at the moment.

Nonetheless, Archibald answered his question, "Law says we really should destroy it."

Arthur nodded, "I'll give it a good blast with that dynamite we've got."

Dutch nodded, "Alright, you do that, Bill, cover him."

Bill nodded in turn and Celina made to head back to the stash with them but Dutch caught her by her arm, "Where are you going?"

Celina shrugged, "I thought maybe they could use my help." In reality, she knew that although neither of them would be shot, they would most definately be able to use her help. After all, she wanted to prove her place in the gang and she couldn't just go around telling everyone in it that she had seen the potential future. She would have to look useful to those who were in the dark about that somehow.

Dutch tilted his head to the side slightly, assessing her situation. She could tell he wanted to tell her know, but she could also tell that if he said no, he wasn't sure she'd listen to him. With a heavy, reluctant sigh, Dutch nodded, "Stay with Arthur and Bill, don't do anything stupid."

She smirked and nodded before doing a mock curtsy, "Yes, your majesty." Dutch rolled his eyes and Celina laughed before leaving him with Archibald, following Bill and Dutch. The reason she was so adamant about going with them? Just to try to make sure her telling Arthur what was going to happen wouldn't effect anything, it was a small detail... but yet she thought tipping off Dutch about Cornwall was a small detail... She just wanted to be safe.

"Ok, Bill, you stay back here, Celina, you stay with him, I'm gonna plant the dynamyte and we'll make a run for it. Hopefully we can avoid any trouble." Arthur proceeded to the stash which was back over where he had taken out the first moonshiner.

Bill observed the area, looking for any sign that they weren't alone, "I think we should be good."

Celina kept watch herself, looking for where people could be hiding. There were other people out there with them, that was for sure, "Don't let your guard down, Bill."

Arthur came running back past them upon planting the dynamyte, "Run."

Celina and Bill did just as directed, running as quickly as possible away from the site which was set to explode at any second. Just as the three of them were crossing the bridge, it happened, the ground around them shaking violently as the moonshine went up in flames, almost knocking the three of them to their feet.

Celina almost thought that the trouble they were going to run into may not come and that it may have been a detail Rockstar added to the game just for entertainment. She was quickly proven wrong though when she heard the voice of one of the moonshiners, "Get them! They just blew our stash!"

Immediately, the trio took cover, Bill behind the nearest tree, Celina behind a stack of wooden crates and Arthur behind another tree. People charged out at them before taking cover themselves, shooting wildly in their direction.

Celina fired upon getting an opportunity to get a shot in on one but the bullet whizzed by their head. She cursed to herself quietly, it would be a while yet before she was anywhere near a good shot such as Arthur.

One of the boys shot that man, and she joined them in shooting the others. It was Bill who made the call upon missing a shot on someone in the distance, "Move up!"

They did just that, Celina taking cover behind some more crates right beside Bill and Arthur hiding behind another tree. The shooting continued of course, with Celina growing agitated, keeping it to herself though when she missed someone three times in a row, Bill ending up shooting her target for her.

He seemed to know why she wasn't shooting all too well, "You're nervous, stay calm. This is why us men are the ones who do the dirty work."

"Shut up, Bill." To her satisfaction, just as another opponent poked his head out from cover, Celina fired a clean shot right through his head, killing him instantly and sending him crumpling to the ground. As if that weren't enough to float her ego, she shot the next man as well, in the same fashion.

Arthur chuckled, keeping his focus ahead for anyone else, "Turns out she just has to get mad."

...

A/N: Another longer chapter! Hope you guys enjoy and as usual, comments are greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	21. Chapter 21

"Ok, I think that's it. Let's hurry and get back to Dutch and get out of here before any more might catch wind of what went down." Arthur moved out of cover, Celina and Bill doing the same and walking with him back in the direction they had come from.

Dutch greeted them upon seeing that everyone was fine and returning to him, "Seems like these moonshiners are serious about protecting what's theirs."

"Yea," Celina scoffed, "I'd say so."

"Well done." Dutch looked back over at Archibald, "Forgive me, but me and my people must be on our way back to our lives." He walked over to close up the back of the wagon before them and paused, "It seems we failed to destroy the last of the moonshine, would you like us to?"

Archibald stepped forward, assessing the several crates of the alcoholic beverage, "I usually take it for personal consumption... a benefit of the job. In this case, I'd be happy to take only a a jug or two and leave the rest to you boys... and lady?"

Dutch nodded eagerly and handed off a couple of jugs to the deputy, "That sounds good to me, my friend, an idea it is."

Bill, Arthur, Dutch and Archibald each picked up one of the unconscious captives and loaded them in the back of the deputy's caged wagon, sending him off with a wave of temporary parting. Once he was out of ear-shot, Dutch raised his hands in victory, "Finally we have come across a land so stupid, a backwater so backwards, that even we are like geniuses."

Arthur laughed, and Celina smiled, "You think Hosea will be able to find a use for all that moonshine?" She laughed shortly at the knowing look Dutch cast her due to her question. She of course knew whether or not Hosea would find a use for it, and Dutch of course knew what she knew. She shrugged, not being able to wipe the smile off her face, "Just a question, Dutch." She had to play along, act like she didn't know what would happen in the presence of Bill.

Dutch just chuckled and shook his head before securing the back of the wagon, "Bill, why don't you get this outta here?"

He immediately climbed into the wagon, eager to obey any order from Dutch's mouth, "You want me to hide it somewhere close to camp?"

"That would be great, Bill. Remember to tell me where it is, I might need some for... personal consumption myself." The words were out of Celina's mouth before Dutch had a chance to answer.

Dutch looked over at the girl with amusement before calling back to Bill again, "Do as she says, we'll meet you back at camp." Bill nodded at that confirmation and then directed the wagon forwards and away from them. Dutch glanced back down at Celina, "You sure do like to drink, don't you?"

She shrugged innocently, "Just like to have it at the ready in the case I need it."

"In case you need it..." He laughed, "Alright, let's head back before it starts getting dark."

Celina rolled her eyes playfully at Dutch's response and mounted her horse which still needed a name. Once both Dutch and Arthur were on their steeds as well, the three of them took off. Dutch seemed to be trying to create one of his plans, "You know," he spoke both to her and Arthur, "I'm pretty sure if we're careful enough, we will be able to play this town from all sides. The Greys, the Braithwaites and the law. There could possibly be great pay in this... say we get our hands on that rebel gold Trelawny mentioned."

Celina inhaled deeply, "I already told you, Dutch, doing this is not a good idea. A lot of folks are going to get hurt- get killed... do you really want to risk Sean?"

Dutch shook his head and raised his hand in attempt to calm her down, "And I'm telling you, this can be done, we've just got to be careful about it. You told me about the trap they're going to lay, how I see it, all we've got to do is avoid that and we will all walk away fine."

Celina set her jaw, she could feel her bloodpressure rising and it was all she could to to avoid letting her agitation get the best of her. Luckily, Arthur spoke up, giving her the chance to try and simmer down, "I'm worried about you, Dutch... you seem to be getting a little too greedy and it's almost unsettling. Why don't we do as Celina suggests? She has seen what can happen as we both know.. losing Sean, or anyone for that matter is not worth coming out richer."

"The both of you need to stop doubting me, with Hosea's help, we will be just fine."

"Dutch." The word was firm, athoritive as it left Celina's mouth, "Please let it go. The gold, I can tell you that doing what you're thinking wouldn't even get us the the rebel gold that you're wanting so bad. We won't be able to find it. If you want to help the Grays, that would be your best bet since we're already on sheriff Gray's good side. Those Braithwaites- they're nasty people, Dutch, we can't go playing them too and by no means can we get caught doing anything for the Gray's by them."

Dutch waved waved his hand at her in dismissal, "Ok, fine. I trust your judgment, dammit! I just- we just need a win right now, a good and big one. If you say it'll cause more trouble than it's worth though, we'll leave it be."

Celina eyed him in suspicion, something that he didn't seem to notice. What he said was one thing, but did he mean it? She shared a look of concern with Arthur, "Thank you. I know you want a win, we need one to get away and out of the eye of the law but this- this just isn't what's going to bring in the win to us. Bill has something brewing though, going back to the bank in Valentine... a little sloppy but from what I know it'll pay very well. Ten times better than this plan with Rhodes. I say we even leave the Grays alone."

Dutch nodded, his posture tense but at least he seemed to be listening. What Celina feared was that it was all going in one ear and out the other, "Ok, consider the dear Grays left alone. We'll move on, leave Rhodes left unscathed if that is what our dear fortune-teller thinks best."

Celina's face was beginning to turn red, Dutch was making her mad once again. It was more than just anger he was making her feel though, it was fear and sorrow as to what could be to come if things didn't start going differently. What was the point of her being there if Dutch wouldn't even listen to her? She bit on her bottom lip to the point it hurt and rode slower, dropping back behind Dutch instead of riding alongside him. She could hardly stand to look at him, she hoped that he would listen to her, that he meant what he said... deep in her gut though, she feared otherwise.

She felt like a fool in that moment, she wanted to save Dutch, and the gang... She knew that it wouldn't be easy, to achieve freedom with them without losing people or having anyone go of the deep-end... without Dutch going off the deep end she supposed she should put it. But only in that moment did it truly hit her that maybe she wouldn't be able to save both of them.. or either of them. That was still a possibility that she was no where near accepting but it immediately began to weigh heavily on her mind.

At least, at least Arthur, nor anyone in the gang would get sick and die, expecially from TB. That was a plus of course, she had saved them from that, if nothing else. Maybe Celina could pull Arthur away from Dutch and everyone else except Hosea, maybe the three of them could arrange a plan to ensure things wouldn't get as awful as they could.

There she went again though, trying to reveal things and work to change them. What if doing so caused things to go worse than they would should she not try to change anything? What happened with Strauss came to mind again, almost making her want to scream. Once again, she was between an incredibly huge rock and what felt like the hardest place it the world.

"Are you ok back there?" Dutch's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"I'm fine." She nodded although she was behind him and he wasn't looking at her, "Just admiring the scenery is all. The world isn't like this in 2018, almost all country- open, the air fresh. You guys think civilization is a lot now, try living in 2018."

Arthur grunted, "I could only imagine, must be awful."

"Well," she looked around, "I didn't think it was when I was there, but being here- now? It truly is."

Dutch changed the subject, "You know what we should do? We should have a race, back to camp. What do the two of you say?"

She thought about it for a moment and nodded, accepting at the same time as Arthur who was changing position in his saddle in preparation to take off. Celina moved to line her horse up on the other side of Dutch's.

Dutch looked over at them, as if checking to see neither of them were ahead of him in the slightest, "Ok, on my call... three... two... one!"

Just like that, they were off, Celina spurring her horse forward at once, fighting with Dutch to take the lead but Arthur passing both of them up by a bit just as they rode into the trees. Dutch called out to Arthur, "That horse is going to wear out fast you pushing it that hard so fast boy!"

Arthur called back, continuing to push his horse harder, "Once we get a lead enough on you, we'll be fine!"

Dutch, unfortunately was second place at the moment, leaving Celina in last with no way to get aground him on the narrow trail, unless she went off the trail. Even then she figured by the time she wove through the trees, he'd just have a much bigger lead on her. So she did the best she could, riding right on his heels and cutting in front of him as quickly as she could the second they burst through the trees and back out into the open.

Her lead on him lasted all of three seconds before he raced past her and caught up to Arthur, who's, like Dutch said would happen, horse wasn't galloping as quickly as before, it having grown tired. Needless to say, Dutch was now in the lead on that beautiful white horse of his.

Celina and Arthur were neck-n-neck with one another, Arthur still trying to get a good performance out of the horse. Celina stuck her tongue out mockingly as she passed him, her horses hooves pounding against the earth, Arthur right behind her, his horse having caught a second wind. She laughed joyously. She was having fun, even if Dutch was currently beating them by quite a distance, "Sorry Arthur, you're doomed to be last."

"Oh, I reckon we'll see about that."

She raised her brows at the challenge in his voice, "Oh really? It's on." She spurred her horse onward, it itself catching a burst of speed. She could hear Arthur shout something to her but couldn't quite make it out. She wasn't paying attention to be honest, all she was focused on was beating Dutch back to camp.

It was when he entered the wooded trail that would take them right back to camp that Celina was forced to accept that she had lost, Dutch's lead on her still being no small one. Going through the woods, she slowed the horse to a trott, entering the camp just behind Dutch and Arthur just behind her.

Dutch gloated after they rode at a walk to the hitching post, the three of them jumping down groom their horses. Dutch leaned against the hitching post, everything about his body language and look on his face speaking for now cocky he was feeling, "I should've put a bet on being the victor here. I sure did smoke the two of you, did you forget that we were racing?" He glanced over at the horses who were clearly exhausted, "No, I think you tried..."

Celina rolled her eyes and Arthur crossed his arms, "Is this what you need to make yourself feel good? Beating us?"

"Well of course not, my dear boy!" Dutch chuckled and patted his horse, "For me to so easily beat you brings me great sorrow that over all these years, you still haven't learned to ride a horse very well."

Celina laughed, earning a feigned glare from Arthur. Dutch pointed at Celina, "And you, miss Knoll, we'll see about your true riding skills later." He winked at her, making her cheeks turn pink against her will.

Arthur studied the two of them for a second before shaking his head and walking off, "Good Lord, Dutch."

...

It was dark out by the time Celina got the chance to catch Arthur by himself. He was sitting by the base of a tree writing in that journal of his by the light of a lantern sitting at his side, "Hey, Arthur?"

He looked up from the book, eyeing her with curiosity, "Yeah?"

She sat down on the ground beside him, "Do you think Dutch is ok?"

He closed the book and sat it down, giving her his full attention, "I'm not sure, shouldn't you know though?"

She sighed, "I should... and that's why I think the answer to my question is no. I was just hoping for another answer, reassurance maybe? I don't like how he acted about leaving the Grey's and Braithwaites alone on the way back today... he just..."

He finished her sentence for her, "You think he was just pretending to agree so that we would leave it alone?"

Celina nodded and looked down at the ground, picking at the grass in thought, "I'm really worried, Arthur."

"I know you are, but we don't know that he ain't gonna listen yet. Just because he don't like something doesn't mean he won't come through."

"Yea," she twisted the grass between her fingers, not wanting to look at Arthur and let him possibly see the tears building in her eyes, "I really hope so."

...

A/N: So Dutch doesn't want to listen, who would have thought? Ha, anyway... I feel like everything is starting to get real interesting and come together some, starting to see change in Dutch... worry in Celina and uneasiness in Arthur.

Also, Trelawny is getting close to coming into the picture again!

Questions? Comments? I would love to hear (or read) all of them!

Oh, and thank you to everyone who does comment on this story, it truly makes my day a little more exciting!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	22. Chapter 22

The night passed, and morning came, the rising sun awakening everyone within the camp to go about the new day. They did so, Lenny and Arthur having had taken the majority of the day to run some errands and actually ended up coming back with a wagon full of weapons which they had stollen from crazed colored folk who apparently still hadn't gotten over the Civil War. It was sad really, to know people were still stuck in the mindset they were put in many years ago. Still, it wasn't all bad, considering it brought in benefits to the gang after all.

Celina had spent the day doing random things around the camp, cleaning with the women to ensure that the men weren't living in filth. She had always found Miss Grimshaw to be a crass older woman but her comment about some of the men, namely Micah, Bill and Javier rotting in their own filth if it weren't for them taking care of them was kind of funny.

Not only had she spent the day cleaning, but had also gone into Rhodes to enjoy the bar a bit after having went hunting with Charles earlier in the day. It was nice going to the bar and getting out from time to time, treating herself to a nice warm bath which she usually granted herself about four times a week. She really wished the men would go more often...

The day had grown later and Hosea and Arthur returned to camp, Celina not quite being able to say that in all her activities of the day that she had noticed the two of them had left camp. Apparently, they did... had tooken the wagon down to the Braithwaites plantation in attempt to sell the stolen liquor back to Mrs. Braithwaite who hadn't been impressed at all in being offered to buy back what was already hers. Now that part of playing the family, Celina didn't mind, nothing bad would come out of it... no deaths of anyone she knew anyway. Arthur and Hosea had explained the events of the night, Mrs. Braithwaite having sent them into town to pass out the moonshine for free at the bar. Seemed like the old woman was willing to do just about anything to get under the skin of the Grays. They told about being busted with the 'advertising' and how they managed to clearly escape. Of course, Celina was aware of how that went without being told. Nonetheless though, she had happily listened to their story of the night.

It was late, when Arthur and her got around to talking again, Arthur about to bring up their conversation regarding Dutch from the previous night when Bill waved the two of them over from where he, Lenny and Karen stood at a wagon, the sun just beginning to dip below the horizon, "Arthur, Celina, get over here."

They did as asked, and Bill continued talking, "I have a lead that the two of you might be interested in. Hell, I've had the idea brewing since Horseshoe. We were planning on hitting the bank there before you guys went and stirred up all that commotion in Valentine."

Arthur crossed his arms and leaned back a bit, deflecting Bill's suggestion that they, or he, had done anything wrong, "Don't go looking at me, Bill. Not my fault, just one of those things."

Celina snickered, "I know how it sounds, but it really wasn't our faults... we tried to avoid it."

Bill waved her off, obviously not interested in what she had to say, "Whenever Arthur's involved and something goes wrong, it's always just one of them things. God forbid I make a mistake and cause something to happen, I'm made out to look like an idiot."

Lenny shifted his weight from one foot to the other, reluctantly nodding, "He's got a point there Arthur."

Bill turned back to Lenny, gesturing to him in appreciation, "Thank you Lenny." He then directed his attention to Celina, "What do you say? Is it not always that way?"

The corner of Celina's mouth tipped down, hating to admit the truth, "From the short time I have been with you guys... yes, I have heard him say that quite a few times."

Arthur sighed, eyeing the three of them who had agreed with Bill, "What do you guys want me to do?"

Karen spoke up as if it were obvious, "Come with us and help us hit the bank." She then addressed Celina, "What do you say Celina? We can do it fine with four of us but with five we'll do great. I hear you're not a bad shot either."

Celina held her hand up to stop her with a small laugh, "I'd say I'm not a bad shot... sometimes... and I hope we won't have to do much shooting in any at all, but yea, I'm in."

"Ok, fine." Arthur nodded as well, "We'll head out in the morning."

...

With the natural ticking of time came morning once again, Celina groggily opening her eyes to the morning light realizing what the day would hold... She was going on her first bank heist and like helping out with the moonshine distillery, she hoped that it would help for everyone you see that she was truly useful to the gang and not just a maid.

Upon getting changed into her clothes for the trip, she made her way over to Arthur, Lenny, Bill and Karen who were tacking up their horses and talking amongst themselves as they waited on her. She yawned as she approached her horse, "This is going to be a good take you guys, I can just feel it."

Karen agreed with excitement, "It really is though! We've been scoping it out for months. Really shouldn't be much trouble for what we could bring in."

"So," Arthur asked as they headed down the path leading out from camp, "Tell me again, Bill, about this can't go wrong plan of yours?"

"Oh, it most definately can go wrong. Anything can go wrong once the shooting happens. The plan though is to send Karen into the bank first as a distraction... get people to let their guards down. At that point, we come in."

Celina listened silently and Arthur nodded, "Alright, well we'll go in and see what we can't get our hands on. Bout time you bring in something, Bill."

"Like I said, Arthur, I've been cooking this up ever since Horseshoe. I put in the same work as you- regularly. You're just too busy out there doing what you do to notice."

"So," Arthur adjusted his gamblers hat as they broke through the wooded trail and onto the main road, "You have this for us... all your other down time? I know it couldn't have all be spent planning a bank heist."

Bill shook his head, spurring his tank of a horse faster, everyone else matching his pace, "Not much downtime, Morgan. I've been going out and drinking with the Gray boys, cooking up a deal with them or two." He glanced over at Arthur, "Didn't Dutch tell you?"

Arthur glanced back at Celina, the two of them sharing a mutually worried expression before he answered Bill, "No, he hasn't said a thing."

"Hmph," Bill huffed, "I figured he would have said something about it... word is them Gray boys are in need of some extra security... could be quite a bit in it for us."

Celina spoke up, not finding it within herself to stay quiet and just make assumptions, "So, security, Bill? Really? Is that code for something?"

Bill didn't bother to look back at her but instead kept his attention focused ahead, "Not exactly code for something, but there is more to it than that... they've suggested maybe we could help them one up their lifelong enemies, the Braithwaites. I heard Hosea and Dutch talking about it this morning, apparently they put it together yesterday."

Celina took a deep, unsettling breath, "Ok, how much did you hear, Bill?"

"Well, apparently we're set to torch the Gray's tobacco fields and steal the Braithwaites horses. I can't believe Dutch didn't cut either of you in on what's going on. You may want to ask him about it."

Celina nodded slowly and closed her eyes in a slightly extended blink. She had told Dutch about what screwing with both families could result in and Dutch had said they'd leave them alone. He was going behind both her and Arthur's backs... Hosea, they needed to talk with Hosea and just hope the old conman would be able to worm his way out of working with either family. She was entirely grateful to Bill for revealing what he had, she didn't have a clue how she would've found out if it weren't for his big mouth.

"I don't know about all of these plans, Bill," Arthur spoke eventually after a good five minutes of silence, "I think we've got quite a lot going on right now to be adding to it."

"It'll be fine, Arthur, like I said, Hosea is on it. If there's anything to be worried about, he'll sense it."

"I still can't believe you got me going back to Valentine after everything that went down there." Arthur scratched at his beard, "Makes me uneasy."

Bill scoffed, "We didn't stir up all that commotion, Arthur. That was you, Celina, John and Dutch who caused us to have to leave. Don't go blaming it on the lot of us, I was there working in Valentine too- quietly."

"Oh, I'm sorry Bill, last time I checked we were ambushed in Valentine. Couldn't have done a thing to avoid it, just one of those things."

"And here we go again!" Bill threw his hands upwards before taking his reigns again, "Just one of those things. I'm surprised you haven't been grilling be about that dynamyte again- one mistake."

"Oh, congrats," Arthur clapped dramatically, "What do need, a pat on the back? Perhaps you deserve a gold metal."

Bill rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Arthur. I've got this one."

"Ok..." Arthur raised a brow, "We'll see about that."

What would go down at the bank would be fine. The thought of the bank was not what made Celina feel like she had a rock in the bottom of her stomach. It was something else entirely, it was Dutch. How could he? She had tried to believe in him only for him to go behind the backs of the ones who loved him. Did he really not care about the possibility of losing Sean? Or was he just in denial, not thinking clearly or believing that things could and would go differently.

She shook her head and swallowed the thick lump in her throat which she was almost too jittery to do so. The noxious feeling continued to grow each time her horses hooves made contact with the earth. Finally, it was too much, "Hold on guys- I-" Feeling it coming, Celina quickly halted her horse and dismounted, running off to the side of the road and dropping to her knees. It was hardly a second later when she hurled last night's dinner onto the grass.

She just vaguely felt it when someone pulled her hair back out of her face for her as she continued to hurl before their eyes. She could just barely register Bill's voice which sounded distant, "Well, is she ok?"

"No, Bill, she's throwing up." It was Lenny who responded, his voice coming from right next to her.

Arthur, from where he was crouched behind her, holding her hair, rubbed her back soothing, "Let it all out now, you'll feel better."

Karen stood on the opposite side of Lenny, looking down at Celina and starting to look sick herself, "You couldn't be pregnant, could you?"

Celina shook her head and hurled again. Once she was done, she verbally answered Karen, "I don't think I would be. I'm just-" She wasn't sure now much she could say without having to explain herself. Karen, Bill and Lenny wouldn't understand why she was so upset with Dutch's actions that it had made her physically sick, that is since they didn't know what Arthur, Hosea and even Dutch knew. Had Dutch not even truly believed her about Micah being the rat? Was this all Micah's doing, ensuring Dutch still wanted to go through with this terrible plan?

Karen nodded, a look of sympathy on her face but when Celina hurled again, she was forced to walk away, saving herself from vomiting.

Lenny held out a handkerchief to her, which she took gratefully and wiped her face off when she felt she had vomited up everything she could. She looked up at Lenny from where she remained knelt down, still too shaky to stand, "Thank you, I don't think you'll want that back?"

Lenny laughed and shook his head, "No thank you. I have another one anyway."

Celina forced a smile, "You guys go on to the bank, don't miss the chance for a good take. I'm not in the condition to go though, I'm sorry but I'll meet you back at camp, don't want to be a liability."

Arthur gently let go of her hair and stood to his feet before standing off to the side of her to avoid stepping in the vomit but reaching his hand out to her, offering help up. Celina accepted, letting him pull her to her feet. Truthfully, the young woman was a bit embarrassed to let her emotions get the best of her like that, to the point she felt like every nerve in her body was filled with pins and needles. It had been quite a long time since she had been upset enough to throw up. Now, the fact that she was so upset was making her angry.

She looked around at the group to see they all had their eyes focused on her, concern on all of their faces. Bill hadn't come down from his horse but he was watching her too, his expression slightly troubled. "I'm ok, you guys. Really, go get us some money and I'll see you back at camp."

Lenny gently put his hand on the petite woman's shoulder, "Are you sure you are ok getting back by yourself?"

She nodded, trying to block out the disgusting taste which now filled her mouth, "I'm sure, I know the way back."

Each of them nodded at her, however reluctantly and mounted their horses once more as she did hers. At once, the young woman spun her horse around in the opposite direction of the group and off towards the direction of their camp. She needed to get Hosea alone and speak with him, that much was clear. If she could do that, then maybe things would be better... but could they really be fixed as of now? She was sure Dutch would throw a fit when confronted, that was as long as she didn't kill him first.

...

A/N: Ok, well, she knows and she so far isn't taking the news well. I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on this chapter along with how everyone thinks her return to camp is going to go down. I can ensure it will most definately be interesting.

And yes, I can absolutely 100% guarantee that she throwing up was from stress and heartache... she's not pregnant.

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	23. Chapter 23

The closer Celina rode to the camp, the less she actually wanted to enter it. Entering it would mean likely seeing Dutch, seeing Dutch would cause her bloodpressure to rise and her bloodpressure rising may cause her to do- or say something stupid. No matter how stupid though, she was sure it wouldn't be Molly O'Shea's level of stupid... claiming to have been the one betraying the gang.

So, with the idea of trying to prevent herself from having a heart attack at the young age of twenty three years old, she rode her horse who in that moment she decided to name Bullet, back and forth in front of the path that would lead her into the camp. What would she say and how would she say it? The last thing she wanted to do was barge into camp, yelling at Dutch. That... that wouldn't go well, possibly revealing how much she knew to everyone in camp and cause attention to be drawn to herself and Dutch.

Challenging the leader in front of his gang for his decisions would most certainly be a mistake. Yes, she nodded to herself, she would ride in and head straight over to Hosea. Perhaps talking to him would get her to calm down. She took another deep breath, exhaling slowly before trotting into the woods.

As she grew nearer and nearer to the camp, it became easier and easier to make it everyone's voices, Dutch's of course stood out to her. He was laughing, the fool was laughing. Surely he wouldn't be laughing for long. It taking everything in her power to keep her composure, Celina dismounted and hitched Bullet amongst the other horses. She took another deep breath, she would be ok. She wouldn't shoot Dutch in the leg, she would be ok. But would Dutch? Yes... She told herself, Dutch would be ok... he would... probably.

Of course when she spotted Hosea he had to be talking to Dutch, sitting at the game table. From where she stood, it looked like they were playing dominoes. Dominoes. Cute.

She approached them calmly, or at least with a demeanor she hoped came off as calm, "Hosea, can I please talk to you?"

The older man looked up at her from where he sat, immediately giving her his full attention, "Of course my dear, is everything alright?"

She could see Dutch starting at her out of the corner of her eye but refused to look at him. Just the fact he was looking at her alone made her want to punch him in the face, "Alone?"

Hosea's eyes widened in surprise and he looked a bit confused but nodded anyway, "Of course." He stood up from his chair, "Excuse me, Dutch."

Dutch looked from Hosea to Celina, his brow furrowed in confusion of his own, "What's going on?"

Celina finally looked over at the leader, making eye contact with him, "If I wanted you to know, I wouldn't have asked Hosea to speak in private, now would I?"

Dutch looked taken aback and he stood up as well, "There's no need to hide anything," his tone was stern. He met Hosea's gaze briefly, addressing him as well, "If the two of you have anything to say, there'll be no harm in me hearing it. In fact, I dem-"

That was it, he had pushed her to her snapping point, "Don't you even say you demand! Don't fucking say it!"

Hosea frantically grabbed Dutch's and Celina's arms, quickly leading them away from everyone's sight. The old man waved off everyone who tried to approach or was even looking in their direction, "There's nothing to see here, just go about what you're doing."

Celina was fuming at the seams, but managed to bite her tongue as did Dutch until they were away from the camp. The second they were supposedly out of earshot though, they both yanked out of Hosea's grasp, Celina pointing accusing at the man who thought Hoagy Macintosh was a viable alias, "You are an idiot!"

Dutch raised his hands to try to calm her down, "You need to watch how you talk to me, miss-"

"You need to fucking watch it, Dutch! What're you going to do? Shoot me? Kill me like you did that poor innocent girl on the boat in Blackwater?!"

Dutch's eyes widened and his mouth opened but Hosea jumped in between the two of them, speaking before they said anymore, "Quit! That is enough. Miss Celina, would you please enlighten us as to what this is all about?"

She did her best to collect herself, her palms sweating, hands shaking and voice quivering. She moved off to the side so she could look at Dutch, "Dutch-" It was almost hard for her to talk, "Dutch lied to me, about what we're doing with the Gray's and Braithwaites."

She saw Dutch's mouth drop slightly, "Who said anything to you about those two families?"

"As if I'd tell you." She spat the words out like venom before looking back to Hosea. "Hosea, I warned Dutch about getting involved with these families." Her voice was firm, it surprised her how together she sounded even in the state she was in, "I told him that if we play both sides, things are going to get ugly, very ugly. Arthur was there when I told him, he can back me up! I told Dutch that if we do this, we are going to be set up by the Gray's- I didn't remember which family it was at the time, but it's the Gray's. They will set us up and Sean will be killed." She tried to fight back the tears but her voice cracked with emotion, "He would be shot in the head, his brains blown out before anyone knows what's happening."

Hosea's face was one of heartache, he looked ill himself, thinking of that fate befalling Sean. Celina continued, "I told him, Hosea. Told him. He acted as if Arthur and I were successful in getting him to give in and decide to leave the families alone. He said they'd be left alone. Then today, I go to rob the bank and-"

Dutch hissed out Bill's name in agitation which caused Celina and Hosea to look at him in disbelief. Hosea was the one who spoke, "What is wrong with you, Dutch? Are you not hearing what she's saying? Going after these families could end Sean's life."

Dutch shook his head, "No, it won't, Hosea. I have a plan... we have a plan and we're being careful. No one is going to find out, no one is going to get hurt. I understand-"

"You don't understand, Dutch!" Celina raked her shaking fingers through her hair, tugging on it in desperation, "It seems you're hardly understanding anything at all here. I tell you about this and what you hear is 'be careful'. I'm not telling you to be careful, Dutch! I'm telling you to not fucking do it! If you do, I swear to God I'll stab you."

Dutch opened his mouth and then shut it. He then opened it again, a little surprised at the woman's ferocity, "Ok."

Celina went to yell at him again before it dawned on her what he had said, "Ok? What do you mean, ok?"

Hosea had been surprised to at Dutch's short response, he turned to face him, waiting for his explanation as much as Celina was, "Ok, I will tell the boys that I don't want to go through with it, that it's not a good idea."

Celina raised a brow in question, "Why the sudden change? Dutch, if you're trying to pull something like you did a couple days ago with Arthur and I..."

"I'm not." Dutch seemed to be honest, although Celina was honestly on the fence regarding whether she could trust him or not, and with good reason, "If you're going to stand there and fight against me doing this so strongly, then fine. I'll trust you. I didn't know you felt this strongly against it and I'm sorry. You're looking out for what you know is in the gangs best intrest and you're willing to fight for it. That's just the kind of loyalty we need around here."

She held eye contact with him, attempting to search his dark eyes for any sign of deception, any sign that the words out of his mouth were just that- words. She sighed, "Good... that's... that's really good, thank you. I'm sorry too, about saying what I did about the boat."

Dutch shook his head, "You aren't afraid to fight dirty."

Hosea, once again looked like he saw a ghost, "Well, since all is good here and it seems the two of you will be returning to camp alive, I'm going to head back myself."

Celina laughed, "We'll meet you back there."

Dutch chuckled and shook his head again, glancing at the ground, both of their faces still red from the anger they had provoked in one another. Celina looked up at him rather sheepishly, the expression on his face not being all that different, "I really thought I was going to end up strangling you."

He flashed his handsome smile, "It was almost necessary, my dear. It was almost necessary."

"You weren't tempted to shoot me?"

He took a step back, looking as if he were hurt that she would even suggest a thing, "Not for a moment, why would you ever ask me such a thing?"

She shrugged and then rolled her eyes, "I kinda wanted to shoot you- but only for a second!"

The leader roared with laughter, "You're a hoot, darling!" He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, "You sure are a violent little thing, aren't you? Maybe I should sleep with one eye open."

She returned his embrace, drawing into him as much as she could, inhaling his scent, "I said I wanted to, not that I would have." She pulled away just enough to kiss his cheek, "I was just scared, hurt and livid, Dutch. I'm terrified of losing you. I'm terrified of you becoming the man that I know some day you could turn into."

Dutch pushed her away then, enough to look down into her blue eyes. He darted his tongue across his lips to moisten them, "I'm going to do everything in my power not to let that happen."

Tears pricked at her eyes and she sniffled, pulling him back to her in another tight hug, "I think I'm falling in love with you, Dutch."

He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, and stayed silent for a moment. Finally, he responded verbally, his voice just as soft as hers, "It's been quite a while since I felt that way... but you-" he slid his fingers under her chin to make her look up at him and he looked into her eyes intensely, "You're the closest I've come to it since that time."

Somehow, although he didn't outright tell her he loved her, him opening up to her enough to say that made her think that that alone confirmed it. Dutch Van Der Linde was falling in love with her too.

...

It was a couple hours later when Bill, Arthur, Lenny and Karen returned to camp, the four of them riding in excitedly was enough to tell everyone that their heist had been a success.

Arthur, upon seeing Celina sitting at the dominoes table and playing in a civilized manner with Dutch walked up to them, his curiosity getting the better of him, "So, I take it things are alright between the two of you?"

Celina and Dutch looked up, Celina beating Dutch to saying anything, "We just about went at one another's throats, but we're both breathing."

A chuckle rumbled from Dutch, his eyes almost sparkling in happiness, "So tell me, my boy, how did the bank pay?"

Arthur nodded and pursed his lips in satisfaction, "Pretty good, Dutch. Raked in ten grand for the gang."

Dutch gave a low whistle, "Not bad. I'd say another good take ot two like that and we can get out of here for good. In speaking of things going good, would you mind having Bill, Sean and Javier meet me at my tent in about ten minutes? I need to let them know that we're going to pass on playing the two plantation families."

Arthur nodded, sending Celina an impressed look, "Absolutely, Dutch, I'll go let them know now." At that, Arthur walked away.

It didn't take long before Micah waltzed up to the table, everything about him making her skin crawl, "What do you want, Micah?"

"Woah, woah now pussy cat, keep your claws in. I came over here to talk to Dutch, would you mind?"

Celina stared at Micah for a second, wondering what it was about him that ever had him in Dutch's good graces, "Actually, we're playing a game right now. It's almost over though." She turned her attention away from the snake and back to the table, assessing which dominoe she could place.

Micah didn't go away, "Playing, really? Seemed like quite the fight the two of you had not too long ago. Now you're playing?"

It was Dutch who addressed him then, "Micah, please, just let us finish up here and then we'll deal with whatever it is you think we need to deal with."

The greasy blonde leaned against the tree lazily, "Just wanted to talk, Dutch, that's all."

Dutch glanced over to him again but disinterestedly, "We'll talk here soon, Micah."

Finally, he sighed and walked away, mumbling something under his breath about not feeling appreciated. Honestly, if it wouldn't have gone over so terribly, she would've shoved her revolver into Micah's mouth the second the traitor opened it, blowing his brains out.

It took her a moment to focus back on the game, drawing a new tile when she didn't have any to be played. As it turned out, she ended up winning the game. Although it was pretty much by luck, that didn't mean she was willing to gloat any less than she would have would've she won by skill, "I beat you!"

Dutch shook his head and began picking up the dominoes, "So you did."

"You lost. Loser. You suck."

He raised a brow in amusement at the young woman, "Should I remind you now terribly I beat you in the competition which really counted?"

Her eyes narrowed playfully and she pursed her lips as if she were thinking, rubbing her chin dramatically, "I don't seem to recall."

Dutch shook his head again, picking up the last of the dominoes, "Not even a certain race between you, Arthur and I not too terribly long ago?"

She laughed, "Oh, that race? I don't know what you're talking about. How I remember it I crushed both of you."

"Oh is that how you remember it? I've got to say that you're remembering it wrong in that case." There was a mutual laugh between them and then a moment of silence before Dutch spoke again in a hesitant manner as if he were treading on thin ice, "Will you be staying in my tent tonight?"

She shrugged, "The day's still young, Dutch. It's only noon, you have the rest of the day to do something else stupid and tick me off." With Dutch, that was always a possibility.

...

"Yes, we will count our losses and leave things alone with the Gray's and the Braithwaites entirely. Today while in Rhodes, I just had an uneasy feeling about this whole thing. We've got to trust our guts here, mine says going through with this just isn't going to get us anywhere we want to be. I can't say I know what will happen... but I can affirm it doesn't seem we'll like it."

"Ok," John spoke up, "If you don't think we should do it, we won't." He hesitated, "But, would it be so bad if we just helped one of the families? We could at least make some money from them."

"We leave them alone," Dutch affirmed, upon hearing him stick to his guns, Celina quit biting her fingernails from where she laid across his bed on her back, "We can always 'help' our friend, Sheriff Gray. As for everything else, it's done."

Bill continued to chew on the piece of hay he had sticking out from his mouth, "So done. Nothing."

Dutch shook his head, "Nothing. We're going to continue to lay low here and make money further out. If the noise we make is a good at least forty-five minute ride from here, I don't see why the law would look in a place like this."

Celina nodded, still not bothering to get up from the bed. Good, what Dutch was saying was good... As long as he meant it. In her heart of hearts she felt he was sincere and maybe, just maybe, everything would be ok...

What no one noticed was Micah hiding behind the tent right across from Dutch's and listening to every word. Not only that, but they hadn't noticed him managing to eavesdrop on the heated conversation earlier in the day...

...

A/N: So, after surviving the confrontation from Celina, Dutch decided to truly call off the plans with the Gray's and the Braithwaites. Dutch is getting just a little whipped if you ask me, but don't worry, it won't always be that way. He's just not the type of man to always let the woman take charge.

Micah heard Celina's argument with Dutch... he heard Dutch call off the plans...

Thoughts? Questions? Comments?

I'd love to read them!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	24. Chapter 24

"Hey, Arthur." Dutch stopped him as he walked by, "Why don't you and Charles head out to find Trelawny, get some information from him regarding those bounty hunters he had mentioned."

Arthur nodded, "Ok, you think it's anything good?"

Dutch shrugged, "I don't see how it couldn't be, he's always got some good information about one thing or another."

Celina perked up as she walked around the corner of the tent, "What're we talking about?"

Arthur looked over at her, "Dutch wants me and Charles to go and find Trelawny, he's finally interested in whatever he can tell us about those bounty hunters."

"Ok, well, I'm going with you guys. I wanna get out of here for a bit." When the look on Dutch's face suggested he was about to object, Celina held up her hand to him, "I'm going, Dutch. It will be ok, I need to get out. Even I need a breather sometimes."

"Ok," Dutch waved her off with a small smile despite himself. Unlike Molly, she wasn't one to hang back from the action but rather chase it. She liked that about her, it was refreshing. However, because of it, he knew he couldn't always get her to stick around when he'd much rather her be keeping him company.

Celina's eyes sparkled with excitement at the thought of going out. Yes, she knew that they'd be doing, rescuing Trelawny, he was an intresting feller... and like again, she really was in the mood to out and seek some action, "I'll go get Charles."

Before Dutch or Arthur said anything more, Celina hurried off in the Native American's direction. She was finally going out to do something for the first time since she had attempted to join on the bank heist the day before. It wasn't a long period of time, not at all but for some reason today she just felt full of energy. Perhaps it was the fact that her faith in Dutch had been restored believing in her heart that he was truly listening to her. She called out to Charles as she came close to him, "Hey, Charles, care to help out Arthur and I?"

Charles shook his head and holstered his gun, having just finished cleaning it before standing to his feet, "Not at all, where are we going?"

She looked back over to Arthur who was approaching in a less excited manner than she had. Arthur had heard Charles' question as he beat Celina to answering him, "Looking for Trelawny. Apparently he has some information on bounty hunters that are trying to bring us in."

"Lets go then." He wiped his hands off on his pants and then with them, started out to the horses.

...

For the most part, the three of them rode in silence, making small talk here and there. Luckily the ride into Rhodes was a long one. Charles finally broke the comfortable silence again, "I've only met Trelawny a couple times, anyways has seemed to be a strange fellow."

Arthur laughed and shook his head, "He's an alright feller. A cockroach in fancy britches, he gets into nooks and crannies the rest of us would never be able to. Hopefully we can find him before he scurries off again."

"So he moves pretty often then?" Celina spoke up, Josiah Trelawny was one of members of the gang who truly fascinated her as there was so little information of him. Sure, she knew she would see him a couple more times from today at the least, he seemed like a likable man. Loyal, unless he was in an absolute dire situation and he would absolutely die if he didn't release information. That's what she had heard and even then, she had him pegged to release the minimum amount of information to save himself from certain death. Other than that, he was a magician, that was clear, a conman... absolutely. But a conjuror? She had her doubts... maybe that tied back to him being a conman. Still, what was his life like when he wasn't with the gang? The world may never know.

"He moves constantly," Arthur confirmed, "Has to, he has quite a few people who aren't his biggest fans."

Again falling into silence, the three of them rode into the town of Rhodes, Celina fighting against the images of what could happen there which were flashing through her mind. Honestly, they made her want to scream... Arthur wasn't the only one who thought of Sean as an annoying little brother.

They made their way back past the church and out to the group of run down shacks. She took in the sight before her, it truly was an awful location... Trelawny hadn't been exaggerating. Arthur voiced his distaste as he dismounted along with Celina and Charles, "This certainly isn't the type of place I expected Trelawny to be staying in... He usually scams his way into the best motel in town."

Celina shrugged, "He did say that no one would come looking for him here."

"That is true."

Charles had a look of disgust on his face at the living conditions, "Still.."

The three of them started towards the caravan which they had pegged Trelawny to be in. Arthur entered first and peered around for him, "Trelawny? You in here?"

Celina felt guilt strike her at the sound of Arthur calling for his friend. He wouldn't find him there, of course he wouldn't. She knew that Trelawny would be ok though, they'd save him, he'd be alright. Charles entered the caravan behind Arthur, his skills immediately being put to use upon seeing the sight before him, "I don't think he's in here, Arthur." He carefully moved past his friend, Celina following Charles inside.

Charles eyes fell upon evidence of Trelawny's struggle first, "Broken glass on the floor." He crouched down to take a closer look, "Blood.." Charles stood back up and pointed to the half-eaten plate of food on the table, "He left in a hurry and there was a struggle. This- this isn't good." He shook his head.

Arthur looked heart-broken in that moment as he walked across the room and peered into the bathroom, "There's no body."

Charles took a deep breath, he clearly had a bad feeling, "No, not yet. If we wait too much longer, that may very well not be the case. We need to track him down. Now."

Readily agreeing to Charles' request, the three of them left the caravan with rather heavy hearts. Although Celina knew he was going to be fine, she felt guilty that she hadn't been straight forward with them from the start. She could trust Charles, there was no doubt about that. Really though, what was the point now? She dismissed the idea. It wouldn't help much, she couldn't quite remember how to get to the cabin he was being held captive in anyway.

"They went that way," Charles gestured into the forest, mounting his beautiful Appoloosa as Celina and Arthur mounted their horses, "Follow me, we'll find him."

They did as they were told without question but when Arthur spoke, he sounded rather discouraged, "They could be fifty miles from here by now."

Charles didn't object, but rather agreed, "They could be... we can follow them that far if that's what you want to do. It all depends on how bad you want to find him."

Arthur grunted before cocking his head to the side and taking a deep breath, "I'm still working that out."

Celina rolled her eyes, she knew better than to believe there was any part of Arthur which would be ok with leaving Trelawny behind.. and if she was wrong? If for some reason Arthur would decide that he didn't care to find him, she would continue to search. Trelawny, it seemed, was too interesting a man to leave in the hands of bounty hunters.

Finally, they reached the small camp of a couple men who she wasn't exactly sure what their role in the world was. Bounty hunters? Maybe. The three of them slowed their horses to a stop under the two campers watchful and weary eyes, dismounting slowly. Arthur spoke without suspicion at first, "Have either of you men seen my friend around here? A strange feller, sort of... formal?"

They both shook their heads, the one on the right side of the tent speaking up, "We've seen a lot of strange folk, but none formal I'm afraid."

Charles stared down at the ground for a moment in thought as he discretely studied the broken walking stick just a bit ahead of him. Finally, the Native made his conclusion, "That's Trelawny's walking stick."

Those were enough to light the fire, as in an instant, the man closest to Charles launched himself at him. Arthur and the other man locked into a fight with one another as well, leaving Celina the odd one out. So, she stood there, feeling a little ridiculous as she watched the for men fight with nothing better to do. She watched Charles and his opponent and then Arthur and his before looking over to Charles again and seeing that he had successfully pinned the one who attacked him. She raised her brows, no one was exaggerating when they said that it was unlikely anyone could overpower Charles.

Once Arthur had his guy knocked out... or possibly dead, he made his way over to Charles and took his place, pinning the exhausted man to the ground, "Where's Trelawny? Tell me you bastard!" When the man didn't respond, Arthur slugged him across the face, "Tell me!" He punched him again and again, "If you don't tell me now, you're going to die." He wrapped his hands around the man's throat, beginning to apply pressure, "Do you understand?!"

The man nodded frantically beneath him, "Yes, yes! Please just don't kill me! He's down at a cabin in the cornfields, down by Braithwaite manor."

Arthur huffed, "Now was that so hard?" He moved off of the guy before kicking him in the side of the head, efficiently knocking him out or maybe even killing him. It was hard to tell and frankly, no one cared to spare the man sprawled across the grass a second thought.

"I know a way to get there pretty quick," Charles mounted his horse and Celina and Arthur got on theirs once again.

"Good," Celina said as they all spurred their horses forwards through the trees, "Something tells me time is definately of the essence."

Almost immediately, they all grew silent amongst one another, each of them having retreated into their thoughts either about what was going on now or what had been going on lately as a whole. Charles looked over at Arthur, "What do you think they want with Trelawny?"

"It could be many things, anything really. What I'm wondering is if whatever it is has anything to do with us."

Charles nodded, "You think he'd talk if it does?"

The other cowboy sucked in a sharp breath, "Of course he'll talk, not because he wants to... but because he values his own life above everything. He doesn't know where we're staying though, not that I think he'd outright hand out that information, at first anyway."

Charles screwed up his face at Arthur's answer, "Why does Dutch even keep him around? He disappears for periods of time without a moments notice."

Arthur shrugged, "He's got his uses. And, well, Dutch looks for loyalty in people."

Charles didn't seem sold on the idea that Trelawny was to be trusted, "I understand that, but is be really loyal?"

"I think he is." Arthur nodded, "He's as loyal as he can be anyway. Definately not disloyal... he's just got a big mouth when it comes to saving himself, I don't think he can help it. I don't think he actually gives out a lot of information either... and when he does let something slip, he let's us know. Usually brings in all kids of useful information." Arthur scratched the back of his neck, "Josiah's a good friend, has been for years now, nothing is ever straight-forward with him though. I'll tell you that. The man seems to be both the luckiest but still fairly unlucky person I've ever come across."

Celina laughed to herself, earning looks of question from both of the men. She shrugged under their gazes, "Just sounds like in interesting guy."

"Oh he is," Arthur chuckled, "He's most certainly interesting."

...

"That looks like it up ahead," Charles gestured to the single cabin which sat surrounded by cornfields outside of Braithwaite manor. They rode closer, and halted the horses at the side of the cabin, staying out of sight of anyone inside.

Quietly, the three of them dismounted and began to walk towards the cabins door only to stop in their tracks when two men emerged, dragging a defeated Trelawny between them. A third man followed behind them, none of them noticing that they had company as of yet. The third man spoke, "Lets go, we need to get him out of here."

"Not so fast if I were you." It was Arthur who spoke, grabbing the attention of the three men who immediately spooked at the sight of him, Charles, and Celina would like to think her as well- and fled.

Arthur groaned and immediately rushed to Trelawny's side who sat up weakly, "My dear boy, am I glad you see you!" Arthur attempted to untie Trelawny but the magician shook his head, "You go and help Charles, I can handle this."

Arthur glanced in the direction Charles had ran after the men in and Celina waved him off herself, "Go after them, I'll stay here with him." Arthur nodded to her in thanks before running off back to the cornfields to meet up with Charles.

Celina knelt down by Trelawny, immediately starting in untying his ankles for him while he worked on getting his hands free, "It's good to see you again, miss Celina."

She laughed, "I wish it were under different circumstances." She studied his broken face for a moment, the thought floating into her mind that he was a rather handsome man, "It seems that both times I've met you, you've been in some sort of trouble." She stood up and extended her hand to him in offer of help once he was untied and he accepted, allowing her to help him to his feet.

"Oh, I find that I am nearly always in trouble, of one sort or another." He allowed her to help him onto the the cabins porch and into the wooden chair out there, "I'm unsure as to exactly what I would do if things were any different."

Celina just laughed and shook her head, leaning on the the railing of the porch, "I have heard quite a bit about you, but then yet hardly at all."

"Is that so?" His British accent was like music to her ears.

"It sure is." She looked over at him, "You seem to be a man of many secrets."

"Oh that I am, he nodded without any hesitation, that I am indeed." He reached a hand up to rake his disheveled hair out of his face, "What ones would you like to uncover?"

Her eyes widened, was he, flirting with her? She shook off the thought and smiled, "Your secrets are yours to keep and I assume even if you acted as if they weren't, what you'd reveal would be falsified anyhow."

Trelawny looked impressed, "Well, it seems you're not an easy woman to fool."

Her mind went back to when Dutch had tried to pull the wool over her eyes the first time he said he'd have the plantation houses left alone and how hard she had tried to tell herself he had been being truthful. She shook her head with a tight smile, "It's easier to do than one may think..." She paused and then said the next thing that came to her mind, "We found your cane, it's ruined though."

The magician seemed care-free, "Oh don't you worry about that silly thing. I don't actually need it."

Her brow furrowed together slightly, who was this man before her really to be so full of nonsense it came to the point he pretended to need a cane? Who exactly was Josiah Trelawny when he wasn't rattling off nonsense and getting into trouble? She wasn't quite sure but she definately wanted to know.

"Ok," Arthur broke her out of her thoughts as he approached with Charles at his side, "Were those three the only ones?"

Trelawny nodded, "They were, I assume they're taken care of?"

Arthur nodded back at him, "All three dead, who were they anyway?"

Josiah sighed, "Bounty hunters."

"What did you tell them?"

The magician stood from his chair and made his way down the steps, Celina behind him. He quickly accepted Arthur's assistance in making his way to a horse previously owned by one of the men who had captured him, "That I was an intellectual, come down from Oregon and looking for a job at the university... clearly, they didn't buy it. Apparently you boys really stirred up a heap of trouble back in Blackwater."

Arthur nodded, "That we did."

...

A/N: And Trelawny's back in the picture, finally! I really love him and it was so much fun to write his first one on one interaction with Celina. You can definately say that she in intrigued by him.

Anyway, I am absolutely interested in reading any and all thoughts from you guys regarding this chapter and the return of Trelawny. In fact, I'm entirely excited to see what you guys have to say that I'm posting this chapter now instead of in the morning. (That would be in about 7 hours for you guys not in Eastern standard time.)

Hope you all enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	25. Chapter 25

"Good, miss Celina, just the gal I was hoping so see." Trelawny waltzed up to her, stopping her from passing him by.

She turned to him with a smile, seeing that his condition seemed to have already improved from the night before. Still, she asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful, my dear, wonderful. I actually wanted to invite you on a... quest with me. If you're up to it that is."

Celina bit her bottom lip in thought, "A quest?" He certainly had a way to make things cryptic, and interesting.

The magician nodded, "Our friends may call it a heist. A small one at that. Have you ever robbed a stagecoach?"

She shook her head, she hadn't expected him to ask her that, "No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

"Welllll," Trelawny rubbed his hands together, "I have so happened to befriend a good fella down at the train station in Rhodes. He will be very happy so set us up with a good take."

She pursed her lips together and ran her right hand through her hair, "I suppose that could be interesting... I don't exactly have much experience with this lifestyle though. You may rather take someone who knows what they're doing."

He chuckled, the laugh truly sounding genuine, "You'll never know what you're doing if you don't get out there and do it, my dear."

Celina nodded, trying to hide her nervousness, "Ok then." She smiled slightly, "I'll go."

...

Celina and the magician, Micah watched the two of them quietly. He wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed that Celina charmed just about everyone in camp, the young, the old, the men the women... hell, even the horses. It seemed as if she could snap her fingers and she would have everyone eating out of her hand.

He had been keeping an eye on her ever since he had come back to camp after Arthur had rescued him. It irked Micah, irked him real bad how she didn't even have to try to get people on her side. She simply flashed that 'I've seen things happen card' and Dutch, Arthur, and Hosea took her word for it as if she were God.

And if she were truly from the future, she knew. She likely knew everything, about what he was doing what he had planned. Surely she had informed Dutch about him being the rat in the group. He needed to make the leader question it, make Hosea and Arthur question it too... if possible.

The rat lit up a cigarette as he stared her down as she mounted her horse and headed out with Trelawny. He didn't like it, Trelawny had just come back and she already had him wrapped around her finger? She was a pretty girl, he hadn't denied that. Everyone was so charmed by her, her looks, her personality. The fact that she had helped them so much... It was time that their opinions of her faltered and he knew just the person to help him accomplish that desire.

Molly O'Shea...

Molly O'Shea was the only one in the gang whom she hadn't at least a foundation of a friendship with. The fact that Celina had practically stolen Dutch right out from under her? That level of potential feminine hate was just what he needed.

Putting out his cigarette after smoking it to its end, Micah made his way over to Dutch who was speaking with Javier, "Hello, Dutch."

Dutch greeted him warmly, "How are you doing, Micah?"

Micah laid on his thick, false charm. Dutch had to know, he had to, "Just seeing what we're up to today. I've heard Celina asking you about that money in Blackwater, she wants to get it?"

Dutch nodded, Javier excusing himself from the turn in conversation, "She has, she's been wanting to go alone since odds are she won't be recognized."

"And yet you won't let her."

"No," Dutch shook his head, "I still think it's too risky. Say someone there does happen to recognize her... what happens if she is held captive? Or what if she's not recognized but something would go wrong anyway? None of us would be able to get near there to save her."

"Hmm..." Micah was quiet for a moment, "I wouldn't be so quick to grow overly fond of that woman."

Dutch's brows furrowed, he was beginning to get on the defensive, "Why would you say that, Micah?"

The rat shrugged, "Just the way she runs with all the boys round here, I'd be worried she's like Abigail."

Dutch stepped forward almost in a challenging manner, "She's no Abigail."

Micah sighed and shrugged again, "Ok, but did she tell you that she's running off with that magician?"

Dutch nodded, "Yes, she bid me goodbye on her way out. What is it to you, Micah?"

"Oh, nothing, Dutch. Nothing." Micah turned on his heel and walked away after casting a lingering glance at Dutch. It seemed separating the two of them might prove to be more challenging- and more fun. He ran his fingers over his mustache thoughtfully, the entire gang against him and Molly O'Shea... who would they be able to fool first?

One thing was for sure, this sure would be interesting.

...

"Mrs. Damsen." Trelawny chuckled as he made his way out of the postoffice with Celina following close behind, "We will make quite a lot of money of of her, my dear."

She thanked him for holding the door open for her, "But how do you expect me to help you? She played stupid but kept her voice low, "We're not going to shoot them, are we?"

"Oh heavens no." He bounded down the stairs, Celina shaking her head as she watched him, he sure was full of it. Of what exactly 'It' was? She wasn't quite sure. To her surprise, once he made it down the stairs himself, he turned around and waited for her, extending to her his right hand for support.

In all honesty, she was a bit taken back by the gesture as no one in her life had ever made such an offer to her. Then again, she was in 1899 when for the most part, men were much more gentlemanly. You definately didn't see anyone's pants hanging half way off their asses in the time she was in. She accepted his help, putting her hand in his as she made her way down the steps. In all, it was truly unnecessary but almost heart-warming. If Dutch had been the one to do that, she would think he had secretly screwed up something big.

Trelawny curtseyed to her dramatically as she took the last step down, making her laugh, "So where are we going?"

Together, they walked towards their horses, "Just north of here, Miss Celina. Mrs. Damsen should be going by there shortly. Have you ever heard her sing?"

She shook her head, she hadn't- not really, "I can't say I have.. is she any good?"

The conman even stood by her as she mounted bullet, ready to help if necessary. Seeing it wasn't needed, he went and got on his own steed, "Not at all. To hear her sing may make you want to shoot her... If you would ever be in the need for extra money, you can always come here and get some information on the best stagecoachs and their locations, I might tell you."

"That's good to know, you lead the way."

Josiah spun his horse around and headed off north, Celina following. He couldn't help but to make conversation, "So, how long have you been riding with the boys?"

"Well..." She thought for a moment, how long had she been worth them? Almost two months now? About a month and a half? That was probably accurate, "About a month and a half I'd say, they found me when they came out of the mountains. I was lost and alone.. they saved my life and now, well... I know I haven't been with them a whole long time, but they're like family to me."

Trelawny nodded, "They are the same to me as well, the same to me. It is easy, bonding with them, is is not? They're good fellas, in their hearts. Quite terrifying on the outside at times."

She laughed and nodded, "That they are, but yea, they're alright... I do worry about them though."

His brows rose in intrest as they exited the town, "Oh, do they now?"

"Yea, I can't say I trust Micah... I think he gets in Dutch's head. I mean, the gang describes Dutch as the best man they know and make him out to be so level-headed... but sometimes-"

He raised his hand to stop her with a look of acknowledgement, "Let no more be said, I know of how he can be at times, as if he truly believes he has this world at the tips of his fingers."

She took a deep breath, "Exactly. I just, I don't know. I worry about worse case-scenario how bad things could get."

"I have worried for many years about that lot. I have seen them go through quite a bit. Like brothers to me, they are.. they always come out on top though it seems, in the end."

Celina chewed on her bottom lip in thought. She couldn't help but to think that that was true, it had remained true for a good twenty years but now, unless she could do something about it, their luck would change... and it just wouldn't come back. She figured though, that the fact none of them would be screwing around with the plantation houses things would be better. For now at least, at least Sean wouldn't die... like, like that.

What she really wished was that Dutch would tell her where that money in Blackwater was but she wasn't all too helpful that he would. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, she knew that much, but he was scared. He had explained that to her each time she had brought it up. It made her feel good, like he truly cared for her.

Off course she knew that he cared for her, that much was obvious by the entire way he was with her. Still, her concerm was that if she didn't get that money, the law would end up closing in on them just like before and just like before they would grow desperate for money to buy their way to freedom. Just like before, she feared things would begin going terribly wrong. Expecially without Strauss' business. Part of her wondered how hard it would be for her to take the older man's place in 'banking'.

"Ok," Trelawny's voice brought her back to reality and she realized that she must have been following him on autopilot for a bit because she sure hadn't been paying attention, "This spot should be good, now all we have to do is sit and wait."

"So," Celina stared out ahead of them, looking for any sign of the approaching coach, "You never did tell me what the plan was."

"I will ride up and create a distraction while you quietly sneak up behind the coach and open the lockbox. You will, unnoticed, slip back into cover and poor, unsuspecting Mrs. Damsen will be on her way."

"Hmm..." She pursed her lips, "Sounds easy enough."

"It most certainly will be." He reached into the pocket of his suit and removed a lockpic before handing it to her, "That will do the job quite nicely."

Celina studied the instrument, turning it over in her hand, it felt so very different, holding it instead of her revolver, "Ok." She turned her attention back to the road ahead, "Now we just have to wait."

"Indeed we do." She glanced over at him wondering how he could be so effortlessly classy. Seriously, the man chose a suit as his everyday attire. He picked up conversation yet again, that British accent of his drawing her in, "So tell me about yourself, if you wouldn't mind. It will beat sitting here in silence."

She shook her head with a small smile. What was she supposed to tell him? Certainly not about her unforseen ability to time-travel... "There isn't much to tell about me... I'm twenty three, grew up in a broken household, I love my family, but..." She trailed off. She hadn't spoken about her family at all since she had been taken in by the gang. What was she supposed to say? That she missed them but probably wouldn't ever see them again considering the current year? She darted her tongue over her lips quickly, "There's just not much to tell." That was a lie, there certainly was, "Why don't you tell me some about yourself?"

Trelawny's mouth gaped open for a moment in surprise at the sudden turn in conversation, "It certainly seems like there's at least a bit interesting about yourself. We can start with that mark on your hand for one."

She froze if only for a second and looked down at her hand to see that her glove had rode down towards her wrist a bit, exposing a small portion of the tattoo on her pointer finger. Quickly, she tried to find an explanation, pulling the glove back up to hide it. The first thing out of her mouth was stupid, so very stupid, "It's, it's just a scar."

"Just a scar?" He didn't seem to believe her, not one but. However, his attention was diverted when the stagecoach came into sight, "That would be it. Keep your distance and don't be seen, I'll go on ahead."

Celina nodded, feeling butterflies in her stomach caused by sudden nerves. Trelawny had seen the tattoo, he definately wasn't the worse person to have see them but she didn't fancy not being able to make the decision of who knew her orgin or not. No one that did know seemed to think it a good idea for her to reveal her experience to too many others. Trelawny, well, she was sure he meant well, but as Arthur had said, he could have a big mouth at times.

When she felt that the stagecoach had moved past her far enough, she rode out, tailing it from a safe distance as instructed. She kept her eyes on Trelawny up ahead as he managed to get the stagecoach to stop. She could hear him with his loud mouth clearly from where she stayed in the distance, "Mrs. Damsen, please, I know that it's such a small show, but could you, possibly, just let me hear a song or two?"

Mrs. Damsen leaned out of the stagecoach slightly as she spoke to Josiah, "Oh, I- I- I don't know."

He turned on his charm... and ability to lie in attempt to pursuade her to comply with his request, "If you would that would be quite wonderful. I've got an event coming up... May fifteenth at the chapel in Valentine and I would so love to have you for the occasion. I'll only take a moment of your time."

If Celina weren't so entertained by the exchange she was witnessing, she may have felt bad for the singer.. maybe, "Well," Mrs. Damsen huffed dramatically, "Ok then, I suppose."

Trelawny feigned excitement and Celina once again wondered how it would be to truly know Josiah Trelawny who seemed to be able to come up with rubbish as easily as breathing, "How wonderful." He opened the stagecoach door for the woman and helped her out being quite the gentleman in that aspect.

Seeing that everyone near the stagecoach seemed to have their attention fully fixated on the small show, Celina took the opportunity to hop down from bullet and both slowly and quietly, began her approach.

Mrs. Damsen's singing, as Trelawny had said was truly awful. Perhaps some folk liked it, well, she figured, some folks would have to like it for her to be in the intertainment industry, but she, to say the least, was most definately not a fan of the woman. She sorrowed for a moment over the thought that she may never again hear classic rock in her life... Even the music Dutch played grated on her nerves from time to time. It was Dutch who played it though, so it almost had a spot in her heart.. almost.

She finally made it to the back of the stagecoach and with a somehow steady hand, she inserted the lockpick into the lock, opening the box quietly. Her eyes just about boggled at the stacks of cash which was stored here. It was a good take, she quickly gathered the money and began to sneak away as Trelawny managed to get the woman to sing another song. It was a very good take.

She almost laughed when upon seeing she was back by her horse, Trelawny immediately stopped Mrs. Damsen from continuing. It was funny she thought, the idea of him standing up there, having pretended to love her voice, "Thank you madam," he said upon helping her back into the coach, "I hope to see you at the event."

"Oh, you most certainly will!"

Josiah bowed to her dramaticaly in goodbye before standing there for a moment, seeing the stagecoach off. Celina chuckled as she walked up to the magician, the stagecoach a safe distance away, "You are quite the charmer."

"As slippery as an eel in an oil slick as Arthur would say." Trelawny took the money that she offered to him, "What do we have here?"

"Five hundred and twenty five dollars for you, the same for me, and the other half for the gang."

He nodded, and tucked the money into his suit, "Just the way it should be. I think I should be off now."

"Really?" She tucked the rest of the money into her satchel, "So soon?"

He nodded, "While I so enjoy sleeping in the dirt with you and and gang, it really isn't quite my style. But," he seemed to be thinking whether or not he should say what it was he was about to. He finally said what was on his mind anyway, "If ever you should want to join me I would welcome you warmly."

"Oh," she shook her head, she couldn't leave Dutch and the gang, not even for a short bit. They meant too much to her, as she had established, they were like family. And Dutch, she couldn't leave Dutch anyway nor would she. She loved him, of that she was sure, even if the option of sleeping indoors appealed to her, "I can't... thank you for the offer though."

He smiled kindly and took her hand in his before raising it to press a kiss against the back of it like he liked to do. He backed away from her then, "Until I see you again, Miss Knoll." He did another bow, making her laugh. Then, he simply mounted his horse and was off. All without another comment regarding the mark on her hand.

She stared after the charming man for a moment before shaking her head. It was time to get back to camp.

...

A/N: A lot of thought went into this one, things just keep continuing to progress and I'm getting more and more excited to see where all of this goes.

And yes, for you guys commenting about maybe Celina should get the Blackwater money, there's your answer. Put that out there to clarify why she hasn't attempted to retrieve it... yet.

Questions? Comments? Please leave them for me to read as I so love to do.

Have a great day everyone.

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	26. Chapter 26

Two weeks had went by since Trelawny separated from the gang once again and to say the least, things were going good, almost too good. It turned out that Dutch really had listened about leaving the plantation houses alone and as Dutch had thought, the place they were hiding out in, outside of Rhodes, hadn't been discovered by any law when with them having been there for a little while. It was nice, the land beginning to feel like home. Really, they hadn't done anything to attract any attention to themselves although Celina supposed that didn't really matter. There were still likely a great deal of bounty hunters scouting the country for them. Luckily for both the hunters and the gang, unsuccessfully. Laying low was great, Celina loved it and was alnist getting used to it. It felt safe, almost.

Dutch's spirits were high as well considering that the money was still coming in although in a much quiter way. Through bounties... Yep. The gang had actually been bounty hunting themselves which was a direction she had strongly suggested Dutch to follow and preach to the gang. He had. They were doing great and he, Arthur and Bill remained sheriff Gray's golden boys.

As far as the bounty hunting in other cities? Well, as logic had it, the boys captured the targets and Celina hauled them on into town. She was making a big name for herself even if it weren't her doing the work. Credit was good, credit was great. For making the Van Der Linde gang commit much less crimes for the time being, credit was deserved.

Celina and Dutch? They were great too. Heck Molly didn't even give her the skink eye from across the camp any longer. This made the young woman hope that maybe, just maybe things would be ok between herself and Molly too... maybe.

Suddenly, her eyes were covered by two large hands, the person behind her stepping close enough that her back was flush against his front. She inhaled the scent of the man she loved so dear, his presence almost making her heart swell with happiness, "I know it's you."

Dutch chuckled and spun her around to face him before pressing his lips to hers sweetly, "Head into town with me? I'm going to pick up some ammunition."

Celina nodded and kissed him back, "Of course, lets go." Kissing him was great, being with him was great and she was starting to both hope and feel like maybe- just maybe, things with him would last. It was weird she thought, to actually be relaxed for an extended period of time since she had joined the gang. What was weirder was that even Micah of all people had been being rather pleasant.

Don't get her wrong, she still hated Micah and didn't trust him with a bone in her body. In fact, the idea of Micah Bell's head on a pike still brought her great satisfaction. However, to her knowledge, the rat still hadn't done anything, well... rattish. Again, everything was going smoothly.

She followed Dutch to the horses and together they mounted the steeds before leaving the camp. Once out of sight from the place, Dutch took a deep breath of the fresh air, "I believe we are going to be alright."

She smiled back at him, "You know, I was just thinking the same thing. Everyone's energy back at camp is so uplifting. We can do this Dutch, a few more weeks, maybe more of laying as low as we are. We can go off and get some land of our own. Heck, if you'll ever tell me where that Blackwater money is I can go get it and we'll be on our way."

"You know how I feel about you going back there alone." Dutch's tone wasn't harsh, just decisive, "If something happened to you, I- I don't know what I'd do." His expression was troubled and sincere, frankly, he looked pretty cute.

She cast him a sympathetic smile, "I know how you feel but I don't have to go alone... I can take Sadie with me. She's real tough, Dutch. She doesn't have a bounty on her head and she could cover me incase anything went down. I mean, I still highly doubt anything would go down anyway."

"I just don't think that's a risk we should be taking. I say we stick to the plan, lay low until we build up enough money to leave, then we're off."

"Ok." She nodded, "If that's what you want to do, then that's what we'll do. Go off farming someplace."

Dutch laughed, "I'm still wrapping my head around the lot of us becoming farmers."

She chuckled herself, "It'll be fun, go way, way out west where no one will find us. We'll still be free, just a lot safer and a lot quiter. Live good easy lives."

He hummed in contentment, "That idea certainly sounds appealing. It'll be an adjustment in lifestyle though for sure, at first at least. You do have to remember that I haven't settled down to an actual home in over twenty years. This, this has more or less been my life since I was sixteen."

"I know it has," She smiled as she pictured the future for herself and the gang, how they would all be living before long, "Like you said though, it's not like we can't rob the robbers or do some bounty hunting as well. We'll still be getting in on some of the action."

Dutch nodded and smiled over at her, the woman sure did know how to paint a pretty picture and he sure was sold on it. They just needed more money and they would be on their way to a better life, "I am so very grateful that you came along and into all of our lives. If you hadn't-" he broke off shaking his head.

"If I hadn't you would be half way on your way to insanity? Pretty much." She laughed and shrugged her shoulders when he looked over at her, "I'm just teasing, but it is true."

Dutch voiced another thing that had been on her mind recently, "As of now, I don't think Micah has done anything to betray us."

She took a deep breath, not wanting to have Dutch letting his guard down around the blonde man, "I've been thinking that too, but I wouldn't start trusting him now or ever for that matter."

"You don't think everything that's going different from what you know due to you being here has maybe effected the decisions he's making?"

She shrugged yet again, "I don't know... maybe. I doubt it though, I just think that that's the type of person Micah is, he's always looking to make money, no matter what he has to do to get it. I don't think he's a man with morals- at all."

...

"You know the plan," Micah drawed to Molly, "We've got to stick to the plan." It was going to work, they had laid low for long enough now.

Molly nodded, finally, she would take Dutch from Celina and Celina from Dutch. Heck, she'd take the whole gang from Celina, waltzing on in and stealing her man right out from under her like that. Molly had truly loved Dutch and that was what she got, "Ok, about the Gray's and Braithwaites?"

"About the Gray's and Braithwaites, perfect thing to get this all kickstarted. Now, where are John, Sean and Javier?" Micah scanned the camp from where he sat on a barrel.

"I," Molly started, "I think that they should be out by the lake, I believe Javier took them fishing."

Micah nodded, "Sounds likely. I will wait for them to get back. You know what you're supposed to do." At that, Micah started out towards the lake, lucky enough just as the odd trio were getting close to being back at camp. He stood on the shore with his chest puffed out confidently. So much for a plan, Dutch, he was going to make his plan happen- no nagging girlfriend required. He waved to the three as they made the final turn to park the boat, "Could I speak to y'all for a moment?"

They all looked at one another, distaste on their faces but they nodded. Javier was the only one to actually speak to him, "What is it?"

"Orders from Dutch." Micah tipped back slightly without losing his balance, "He says that he's thinking we hit on the theft of the Braithwaite horses tonight."

John screwed up his face and then shook his head, "What, why would he change his mind now? We were going to do that weeks ago. He didn't think it was a good idea then, what changed now?"

Micah shrugged, "He didn't really say so much but he wants to do it." Micah lowered his voice before making eye contact with each of them, "He wants this kept quiet, too. Real quiet. We all know that it's Celina who talked him out of it in the first place. I'm surprised he even got away from her long enough to tell me the plan. He did though, and wants me to see that it's executed."

Javier's face held doubt, "I don't think if Dutch really wanted to go though with this before he would have let Celina stop him."

Micah rolled his eyes, "You all realize that Celina is a woman, right? If Dutch doesn't listen to her from time to time then Dutch isn't going to be able to reap the benefits of her being a woman." They remained silent in thought and Micah waved them off, "Fine, we won't do it and when we don't do it and Dutch finds out, we can all see how he feels upon not having his orders followed."

Sean spoke up then, looking at John and Javier, "I think we should speak to Dutch, see if this is really what he wants. I don't trust a thing, conning from the mouth of that oily turd."

When Javier and John nodded in agreement, Micah shook his head. He had to keep his cool and be convincing or no matter what he and Molly were doing, it wouldn't work, "I know I haven't been the most trustworthy person to you guys, for one reason or another. But really, what have I done?" He spread his arms wide, welcoming them to point out any sign of betrayal, "I'm simply following Dutch's orders. Are you loyal to him, or not?"

"Well, yea." It was John who spoke and then Javier and Sean nodded in agreement, the Irish man muttering something under his breath which sounded a whole lot like an insult to Micah from what could be made out.

Micah nodded, eyeing the youngest of them with slight irritation, "Ok, then we take the horses tonight."

"Where is Dutch anyway?" Javier climbed out of the boat finally, the rest of them following him.

Micah shrugged, "He and Celina went out to do something. Went into Rhodes if I heard them right."

...

"I do want to get some new gloves once we get the ammunition." Celina informed Dutch, walking beside him with her left hand latched affectionately onto his right arm, "The gloves I have now, they've been sliding down some. I don't want anyone to see my tattoos."

Dutch nodded with a smile down at her, "We can take as long as you want and get as much as you need. Today, it's all coming out of my pocket."

Her eyes widened, had Dutch Van Der Linde actually insisted on buying her things? He had, and she supposed that's what a boyfriend typically did. Still though, coming from Dutch, it almost meant more. No, it certainly meant more. The look on her face made him chuckle as she spoke, "Really?"

"Yes, really. Do you think I don't know how to treat a woman?"

"Oh," she shook her head, cheeks flushing red as her mind immediately went to the gutter, "You certainly do."

Dutch laughed again, quickly picking up on what she was thinking. He shook his head with an adoring smile upon his face as they approached the gunsmith, "Let's get that ammo... and yourself a tougher gun."

The woman stood by the window as Dutch rooted through the ammunition which was on sale and looked at the guns which he thought would suit her. It was true that she wanted a gun with more power but it was also true that she would likely take a bit of time to get used to anything other than her beloved revolver. In all honesty, she didn't know much about guns at all, another reason she was glad Dutch had invited her into town with him.

As she stared out the window, something just didn't feel quite right. She could have sworn she saw Molly O'Shae of all people run by in the distance, further up the town. Of course, there were more women than just Molly with red hair. Unable to get a good look at the woman she shook her head, there was no reason for Molly to be in town.

She turned her attention back to Dutch who had a sawed off shotgun laying on the counter along with a ton of ammunition. He paid for his items before meeting her gaze, "Are you ready to go?"

Celina nodded, thanking the gunsmith before taking her shotgun from Dutch and following him out the door and in the direction of the general store. Not being able to withhold what she thought she had seen, she talked, "You know, I think I may have-"

She was cut off from the sudden onslew of bullets being fired their way along with the shouting of Dutch's name. Immediately, they both took cover at the side of the nearest building, crouching behind the wagon which had luckily been left there.

Just as naturally as breathing, the two of them pulled out their guns and began firing back at their attackers. Celina's breathing was irregular as she tried to keep herself from panicking, there were a lot of people shooting at them- a lot. It seemed her previous thoughts about being so successful in lying low had come back to bite her. Fear was evident in her eyes although she did her best not to let it show in her voice. Dutch and herself against all of these people? She dared to look over at him, "What are we going to do? They're everywhere."

He shook his head, peering out at their assailants, "I- I don't know." He fired at a man as he charged towards them. Maybe this is how things would happen, maybe this was how they would die. He thought back to his past, truly thinking all of his wrongdoings had finally caught up to them, "We cannot go down without a fight."

She nodded, "I know, Dutch. I just don't think we-"

All of a sudden, shots started going off over their heads but coming from the opposite direction. Celina and Dutch looked in the direction of their defender to see Micah, Javier, Bill and Sean all on horseback riding in at a rapid pace before skidding to a stop and dismounting quickly, running for cover.

Never in her life had Celina ever felt more relieved to see Micah Bell... also, never in her life had she been more suspicious to see Micah. She shook the thought for the time being and turned her attention back to the fight right alongside Dutch where she belonged.

It seemed to last forever, the firing, the shouts, the men falling lifelessly to the ground, some of them from balconies. Then finally, it grew silent enough to assume that all of their attackers had been good and dealt with. Celina looked back over at Dutch, seat rolling down her face, "What was that?"

Dutch remained silent for a moment, "I don't know, it's like they were waiting to spot us. We ain't never done anything illegal here."

"I know..." Micah came back to mind, "I wonder if Micah didn't set this up here, Dutch.. how he showed up with enough help to get us out of trouble. How did he know where we were or that we'd need help?"

The look on Dutch's face was not one that suggested he agreed in any way, shape or form. It was almost a defensive look, an offended look, siding with Micah. Frankly, when he spoke, it made her heart sink, "The man happens to be riding by and seeing us in need, helps?" Dutch shook his head, "He acted with his heart, out of loyalty and you're pointing fingers at him. What would we have done if it hadn't been for him?"

Not good, those words out of Dutch's mouth... definately not good. She didn't try to say anything else to him on the matter, for the time being anyway. She remained bothered though, very bothered because she could have sworn the woman she had seen out the window was Molly. Together, they crept out of cover and met Micah, Javier, Bill and Sean behind the ruined town.

Celina held uncertain eye contact with Micah for a second, he held a challenging look in his eyes. He knew that she had her suspicion and he looked as if he were waiting for her to call him out due to it right in front of everyone. She forced a smile at the man she hated more than anything else in the world, "Thank God you found us, we probably would have been killed if it weren't for you."

Micah seemed to stick his chest out a little more at her words, "What happened back there anyway, Celina? We were just heading in for some drinks at the bar."

"Mmmm hmmmm." She didn't break eye contact with him, not even under the curious stares of the other four men, "I'm sure that was what Javier, Bill and Sean was thinking." She turned her attention to the three of them, "Isn't it boys?"

Bill nodded, "Yes ma'am, ain't much of a bar to drink at here anymore."

"No," Celina agreed, "There's not.. because we shot the town to hell."

Nothing about this was right, the look in Micah's eyes. Something was wrong, perhaps the end had started.

...

A/N: Again, I want to thank you all for the continuous, wonderful reviews. If you would, please leave me any questions and comments you may have!

Hope you enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	27. Chapter 27

The ride back to camp had been intense to say the least, Dutch in the lead as always and Celina taking up the rear. She scratched Bullets neck, leaning forward and raking her fingers through his recently combed mane in attempt to calm herself. That back there, she couldn't get the image of Molly out of her mind. Then the ambush? There was no better way to describe it but an ambush.

A day- heck a couple perfect weeks, all to end up with this. Micah set it up, probably Molly too... possibly. And Dutch didn't want to hear anything regarding her suspicions about how conveniently Micah came to their rescue. Was it a set up in a way which he was hoping that she would have been killed, or possibly even Dutch would have been killed by the time they got there? She hoped not, but maybe, he had cut it pretty close.

She stared daggers into Micah's back as she watched him ride up to Dutch and match his pace. Just vaguely, it made her sick. He was worming his way into Dutch's head or at least trying to in the exact same way that he would have should she have never met the gang. She hoped- no, she prayed that this time he would not be successful. But would she be enough to save Dutch from Micah... from himself? If he went off the deep end, she feared there would truly be no getting him back. The thought of the Dutch she knew, the Dutch she loved being buried by insanity forever was enough for her to want to claw her skin off. It was certainly a much more pleasant option than watching his downfall first hand.

Despite herself, she couldn't let Micah talk to him without hearing what they were saying. She rode past Bill, Javier and Sean to the front of the group and inserted herself into the conversation, "What're the two of you talking about?"

Dutch looked over at her with a neutral expression but the look on Micah's face held annoyance. His voice expressed it, "What're you doing up here? This conversation doesn't concern you."

Celina shrugged, "Nothing, I just wanted in on whatever it is we're doing. Looked serious. Do we have a lead?"

Dutch nodded, "We think-"

Micah cut him off, "Don't tell her, Dutch. It's none of her business. She wouldn't have come up here like this if she trusted you."

Dutch's brows furrowed together and he made eye contact with Celina before looking back at Micah, "She's allowed to know, she's an important member of this group."

Micah scoffed, "Who wants all of us to run off and raise pigs."

Dutch shrugged, "If it comes to it, doesn't sound terrible, get us a patch of land, a good patch of land way out west. I can see it, maybe no pigs but we can truly make a life for ourselves."

"Look at you, Dutch!" Micah laughed, the rest of the group staying quiet, "She's turning you into a civilized man! What about what you stand for? What about

freedom, Dutch? What about lawlessness?" Micah stared at him expectantly, thinking he was going to give him an answer but instead, Dutch stayed silent and stared ahead. He was trying not to take the bait, right? Or was he actually thinking about what Micah had said?

Celina was all but shaking with the effort needed to keep herself in her saddle. She dropped back in the group, she needed to, she had to. She caught the look of concern from Javier and Sean, even Bill looked on edge and after a moment, he spoke up, directing his words to Micah, "Have some respect, would you?"

Micah glared daggers back at him, "Shut up, Bill. You don't know what you're talking about."

That prompted Sean to open his big mouth, "You shut up before I slit your sweaty throat-"

"Enough!" Dutch spun around his horse quickly, making everyone else immediately bring their horses to a halt, "That is enough." He raised his hand to stop any of them from protesting, "All of you, enough. I can hardly hear myself think. When we get back to camp, we start figuring out where we're going to go after that mess we just made."

Celina couldn't take her eyes off Dutch even from where she traveled a bit behind him. She was worried, it was like she had a pit of dead in her stomach. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the last thing she needed was for Dutch to feel trapped, she would never be able to get through to him in a state like that.

Sean looked back at Celina, a small smile on his face, "The creep gates on your nerves too, does he?"

Celina just shook her head, meeting his gaze and then looked over at Javier who was also paying attention to her, "Something needs to be done about him." She kept her voice at a whisper, "He's going to be the downfall of this gang."

...

They arrived back at camp eventually, luckily not having any law nor locals following them. It seemed they really had shot practically every person with balls in the town. Needless to say, it took no time for Dutch to start barking out orders, "Arthur, you and Lenny go find us somewhere to relocate to- now. We leave tomorrow."

Arthur looked surprised at the demand which seemed to have come out of the blue and even more surprised at the way everyone dismounted and parted ways, going off to do different things, "Wait, we're leaving? Why?" He focused his attention back on Dutch, "What happened?"

Dutch brushed past him in the direction of his tent, "We just shot the whole town of Rhodes to hell."

Arthur's eyes widened at the answer, "What?! Why?"

"We were ambushed."

Arthur went to follow Dutch as he passed him by, but was cut off when Celina quickly walked past him tailing Dutch back to his tent. He backed away from the couple, quickly seeing that Celina did not look like a happy camper either.

Celina licked her lips, her steps as big as she could make them to keep up with Dutch. She followed him into his tent uninvited without consideration of his mood, "Dutch," she grabbed his arm once they were in the tent and he spun around, his eyes holding a look which she couldn't quite read, "You have to listen to me."

He took a deep breath, "I don't know what to believe right now."

She offered a sad smile and tears pricked at her eyes, "I told you in the beginning that you couldn't trust him, Dutch. He's the rat."

"If he was the rat, why wouldn't he let us be killed back there? Why would he come to our rescue?"

"Because!" She raised her arms in exasperation, "Because of this exact reason, he wants you to trust him. He's trying to manipulate you, trying to paint a pretty picture of himself in your eyes." Her voice shook as she looked into his eyes, "Don't let him, Dutch."

"I-" he looked back into her eyes to see what he thought was sincerity there, "I'm not going to let that happen."

Oh how she hoped that was the truth with everything in her. For Dutch to honestly not let that happen seemed like it would be a miracle. Did she really believe that it wouldn't happen? She believed that to Dutch it wouldn't happen, she believed that Dutch wouldn't see it happen until it was too late. Then, he'd have to fight like hell to overcome it. If... that was, if he wanted to. Still, she held onto her shred of hope that maybe, just maybe, Micah wouldn't ever get his hooks into the leader. She asked the question that she just couldn't bring herself to lose the chance to ask, "Do you trust me?"

The look on his face suggested that she may as well have grown three heads, "Of course I trust you. I may not think you're right all the time, but I trust you."

And that was the problem, Dutch actually admitting to her that he didn't always think she was right. Which... was fine, in a way. After all, no one was ever right all the time. Still, the feeling hit again that that would lead him to doubting her about Micah, "I know, but thank you." She forced a smile at him and raised her right hand to rest on his cheek, stroking her thumb gently over his skin, "I love you, Dutch."

His eyes widened, those words hadn't made his heart feel so full in such a long time... not ever since Annabelle... Annabelle, how he had loved that woman so dear. Now, now, Celina stood before him, looking up at him with those blue eyes that seemed to always get the better of him, "Celina-" that was the only word be could get to come out of his mouth. What would come next, what did he want to say? Did he love her, did he? He hadn't loved Molly, and he told her he did... that, he had to admit was wrong. But he hadn't cared. Now, with Celina? He certainly knew he didn't want to say those three words without knowing for sure if they were true. "Celina, I-"

She smiled tightly, he could see the hurt in her eyes and it pained him to know that he had caused her to feel that way, "It's ok." She had moved her hand away from his face and brought it to rest on his chest, "I know you care about me Dutch."

He nodded, that one was a no-brainer, "I definately care about you." The air between the two of them was tense, almost awkward in a way. She had just said the three words to him. The three words and what had he said, what he cared about her? And only after she had already said that she knew he cared? He would be drinking tonight for more than just the Rhodes reason.

Dutch took a deep breath and pulled her into a tight hug, not noticing when she teared up, hiding it from him. He inhaled her scent and wondered if he would ever be able to truly tell her he loved her. He hoped he could. Instead of saying anything else, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "You're beautiful, you know that?"

"Well," she laughed lightly and secretly used his vest to dry the couple of tears that had fallen before pulling away from him, "I feel a little prettier now."

He smiled despite himself and then pushed her away a bit when he saw that her face was slightly red, "Have you been crying?"

"No," she lied. She was a little saddened that he couldn't say he loved her back but that wasn't the full reason she was crying. She just couldn't shake the truly terrible feeling in her gut that she wouldn't be able to keep him from changing. The emotional turmoil made her feel as if it were clawing her apart from the inside out, "I'm fine."

He studied her for a moment before shaking his head, "I'm not a good man, Celina."

She sniffled and nodded, "You can be, Dutch. You really can be."

He raised a brow at her, not understanding why the woman who had been spending so much time with him would possibly think he could be a good man, "Is it all the stealing and killing that has you so convinced?"

That caused her to roll her eyes at him, "No that's not it, Dutch." She couldn't help but cracking a small smile and pointed a finger at him, "I see who you are on the inside, I've seen that ever since I laid my eyes on you in 2018... or at least a video game version of you." She laughed, "Still, I believed in you, Dutch. I believed in you when you were just history and I believe in you now. I will always believe in you until I take my last breath."

He felt so overwhelmed, to have this woman who almost knew what he would do before he did it telling him that she not only loved him, but believed in him? It was almost too much. He closed his eyes for a moment, could he really be a good man, after all he had done in his past? He opened his eyes slowly, "Tell me."

It was then Celina who looked confused, "Tell you what?"

"How the end goes for me..." it sounded like it pained him to say it, "How it could go."

She set her jaw and shook her head, "It can go any way you choose to let it Dutch. We're not living in the past, Dutch. This, this is now current time now and the future is entirely determined by your decisions and the decisions of everyone else. You can decide what kind of man you will be."

"But as you know it," he held her gaze, determined to get his answer.

She swallowed, not daring to break eye contact with him, "How I saw it, you died at the age of fifty three... you were hunted down by the law and killed." There was no way that she would reveal what a big part John had played in his death, "You died a madman, nothing more than a killer."

Dutch took a deep, shaky breath, his voice shook slightly, "And the gang?"

She tucked in her lips, "Hardly anyone lived past 1911."

...

"Dutch is asleep, you should have asked him sooner if you didn't trust me." The Irish boy was really grating on his nerves, "Are you in or not? Because we need you."

"I'm out, Micah, you snake." Sean backed away, eyeing John and Javier expectantly, "Are the two of you going to go with him?"

John shook his head, "I don't think so, Micah, Dutch would have said something to us himself if he really wanted us to go. I doubt he'd go behind Celina's back like that. You know him and loyalty, he's not a liar, not to the people he cares about."

"We've already made a big enough mess in Rhodes," Javier scratched at his dumb mustache, "I say we leave it man. Like they said, Dutch should have said something if he wanted this done. I'm not risking drawing any more attention to ourselves."

Micah nodded, looking at the three of them in disbelief, "So all of you duck out on an order Dutch had asked me to see done for him. Is that how it's going to be? You're going to choose to disobey him just because you don't trust me? What about loyalty here, boys? It will be fast and easy."

The three of them stood their ground, staring at the one who they didn't yet know as the rat. John sighed, what would Micah really gain by lying about something like this? Even if he was being dishonest out of greed, they were all packing up and hitting the road tomorrow anyway, "Ok, fine. I'll do it. But we have to be discrete. We shouldn't be stirring up anymore trouble than we already have."

Micah chuckled at John, confident that maybe his plan hadn't flopped on him afterall, "Ok," he looked at Sean and Javier, "Are the two of you coming?"

With a reluctant sigh, the two of them nodded as well and Micah smiled, the moonlight glinting off his teeth, "The best way to do this is three of us go and steal the Braithwaites horses while the other two set the Grays tobacco fields on fire. We'll meet up back here after shaking any law. Good?"

The three of them nodded, still not seeming too happy with the plan. Sean laughed quietly, "You can't even do your simple addition, who's the fith person?"

Micah cursed to himself, "Dammit, Bill. You boys mount up and head down to the Braithwaites place. Be careful. I will get Bill and we'll take care of the fields."

...

"I can't believe we're actually following orders from him." John's tone was less than pleased as they rode away from camp and towards the Braithwaite place.

"Yea, I agree with John, maybe we should just turn around. Make Micah steal the horses himself." Of course it was Sean who said this, his accent thick as ever.

"I'm just trying to piece it together," Javier paused in thought, "Why the three of us ever agreed to this in the first place."

John scoffed, "Hey, I know. I just figured since we're leaving anyway, what can it really hurt? If Dutch is mad when he finds out, it'll go back to Micah anyway. And we should be gone by the time the law can track us down, Artgur and Lenny found and cleared out that house outside of San Denise today."

"Ok," Javier said as they rode to a stop just outside Braithwaite manor. They observed the place in silence for a moment, it was dark, only the lanterns of a few guards walking around were throwing off light, "We move in quietly and slowly. Do not attract attention and most of all, do not spook the horses."

Together, they trotted their horses a wide enough birth around the manor to the back where the prized horses were said to be kept. With the stable in view, they stopped the horses and Sean hopped down stealthily as discussed and snuck up to the guard by the stables from behind, quickly and quietly slicing his throat before gesturing to the others to come and join him.

The boys each grabbed a thoroughbred, hitching it to the back of Javier's horse before they mounted up and rode out. Luckily, the stallions didn't put up much of a fuss. John and Sean ride behind the stallions, keeping a lookout over the manor and prepared to lasso any of the stallions if they would manage to break away.

John pointed up ahead, "There's a guard up there, maybe we should turn around and go the other way. I don't want to have to shoot anyone."

Javier nodded and just as they were about to turn around, one of the guards laid their eyes on them, "Hey! Those are our horses!"

"Shit." John muttered under his breath, "So much for that."

That was when the firing began.

As planned with Micah, they met up with him right outside of camp having sold the three horses for a terrible price to the rustlers who had been waiting in the dark for them to bring in their steal. Frankly, John, Sean and Javier wished that they would have been able to get a better view of the men's faces. It seemed that Micah had lied to them about the profit they could make.

"Those horses, Micah, those damn horses didn't sell for more than a grand for the lot." John shook his head, "You lied to us."

Micah looked offended, a look he played so well. He smelled of moonshine from having it splash all over him, "I did no such thing. Celina told me that we'd get at least a few thousand."

"Wait," Javier held his hand up, "Celina said that?"

Micah looked at the ground, putting on the show well, "Eh, she..." he looked back at the three unimpressed men, "Don't be mad, but Celina was the one who wanted this done. Not Dutch. I couldn't have you boys going to Dutch and ruining tonight."

Sean stared Micah down, "Like hell she did."

Javier nodded, "Yea, what would be in this for Celina?"

Micah laughed and shook his head, "You boys just don't get it. Do you? She cannot be trusted, she talked Dutch out of this and turned right around and asked me to see it done. I don't know her angle exactly, but she's trying to paint a pretty picture of herself. I think she's trying to get us all to trust her and she's gonna pull something big."

John did not look convinced, "She is clearly in love with Dutch. She wouldn't do anything like that. There's no point. Anyway, if you suspected this of her, why would you go along with it, let alone drag us into it?"

Micah eyed each of them again, a deceitful smile on his face which was too hard to be made out in the dark, "We see how far she is willing to go, and just when the time is right, we close in on her."

Sean screwed up his face in disgust, "Well, you..."

"The lot of you don't have to believe me." Micah trotted past them, "Only Dutch."

...

A/N: Ok, so...

Micah just might be the most evil person on the planet. Not only does he lie and say that Dutch wanted to go through with this, but he then lies again and 'admits' that Celina is the one who put them all up to this?

Shoot... I'm excited to see where it's going myself, guys. Definately going to be interesting from here on out. How will Dutch react, how will anyone react?

Thoughts, questions? Leave them in the comments!

Hope you all enjoyed :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	28. Chapter 28

"Dammit, Dutch." Celina muttered these words under her breath, her eyes still closed in a half-sleep. What the dream version of Dutch had done to be sworn at, it wasn't clear but the real life Dutch stared at the girl sleeping in his bed in amusement, legs started to twitch like she was running. He put on his clothes, with a smile of adoration at the girl. He would have to wake her up if they were ever going to move to that house outside of Saint Denis on time as planned. He slowly reached a hand out to her and shook her lightly, "Celina, Celina, wake up. We're getting ready to leave."

Groggily, the woman slowly opened her eyes and stared at Dutch blankly before her vision came into focus. She rubbed them to get the crusties out and yawned, "I'm so tired."

"Rightfully so," Dutch began to gather his belongings from his tent, "Yesterday was too much for any of us. We will be ok though. We'll get out of here before anything happens, make some more money and be on our way out west."

Celina nodded uncertaintly but of course hopefully, "I'm ready to get out of here." She sat up in the bed and put her shirt back on, followed by her pants. With a smile at Dutch, she stood up and placed a kiss on his lips, "Let's get ready to hit the road."

"Dutch, Dutch," Micah approached the tent, making Celina want to punch him in the face and slit his throat more than she could express.

"What is it?" Dutch walked outside, giving Micah his full attention.

"You'll never believe who I just ran into- some of Colm's boys... they were talking about how Colm is ready to try to make peace with you and the lot of us. Ban together against the Pinkertons and put the past behind us."

Arthur walked up, interrupting the conversation, "What do you think about this, Dutch? It screams trap if I've ever heard of one."

Micah gestured to Arthur, "Well, it most certainly is trap. You can ride with us though, Arthur to cover us and if it isn't a trap, we'll be in for a nice surprise." He looked back over at Dutch, "So?"

Dutch glanced over at Celina to see her shake her head ever so slightly, it was a gesture that none of the others noticed, having not been watching for it, "Colm O'Driscoll... I killed his brother, a long time ago and he killed the woman I-" His voice cut off with emotion and he shook his head, "I will think about it. For now, we work on getting the hell out of here."

Micah shifted his weight, "Ok, well, he's expecting us to meet him today, so don't take too long thinking."

Dutch nodded and watched

as Micah walked off. Celina watched as well, waiting until Micah was out of ear shot to speak. She had caught the glare he threw her way, she didn't like it, not one bit. The woman licked her lips and kept her voice low, "I think Micah might know about me."

Dutch chuckled before wrapping his arm around Celina's shoulders and leading her back into the tent, Arthur following with concern written upon his face, "My dear, how exactly would you expect Micah to know? Neither of us has said anything to him regarding your situation and I can surely affirm that Hosea wouldn't have let the cat out of the bag neither."

She shrugged, "I just, I have a really bad feeling, Dutch.. he's been giving me looks, and-"

"Oh, has he been giving you looks? Ever since you accused him of setting us up in Rhodes?"

Celina fidgetted nervously with her gloves, "I'm worried about you, Dutch. Defending him like this."

Dutch went to open his mouth, but Arthur cut him off, "It is concerning, Dutch. That you are so fast to defend him when Celina has told us almost all along that Micah is the rat."

"He's the rat!" Dutch bellowed, "None of you seem to understand that those journals of yours that Celina's... video game was based off of could have been altered for entertainment purposes. Or, or, they could match your journals and make Micah out to be the villain due to your own suspicions. She has explained Arthur, the game was based on your point of view."

Celina shook her head, "Dutch," she reached out to him, and laid her hand gently on his arm causing him to take a deep breath in attempt to calm down, "Please, I need you with me, not against me." She realized despite herself that what she had just said was something that would typically come from the mouth of Dutch Van Der Linde... it seemed that spending so much of her time with him was causing him to rub off on her slightly, "Please."

Dutch pulled away from her touch gently, backing up ever so slightly to stare at her for a second, "I cannot say I am completely convinced what you believe is true about him is true."

Arthur tipped his head back in exasperation, "Dutch. She's telling you."

The leader held up his hand, "I need to think, Arthur."

"And about meeting Colm?" Celina raised a brow, "Don't do it, it's just a set up, all that will come out of it is Arthur will be captured, tortured some and escape. Nothing good, just a way for Colm to try to turn you into the Pinkertons."

"Now that," he pointed a ringed finger at her, "That I absolutely believe."

"But wait," Arthur looked over at Celina, "You're saying that I do get out of it ok, right?" Celina nodded and Arthur continued, "Maybe we should go anyway, because if we don't and Micah has his suspicions that you've seen the future and he is involved in the set up.. that's only going to make his beliefs stronger... if we act like you never warned us... maybe he'll start to question himself."

Dutch raised his brows, "That sounds like an excellent idea."

...

So, they had done it, Arthur and Dutch had went off with Micah to meet with none other than Colm O'Driscoll. She didn't like the idea of Arthur having to go through what he would but the plan made sense. Really, it was unfortunately the best one they had and Celina was beyond grateful that Dutch had agreed to it as well.

For the time being, she sat in her own tent, writing. Yes, she had recently taken up the hobby of writing in a journal just as Arthur did. It was therapeutic, helped to express herself in a way that wouldn't concern others. She'd be damned though if she considered not burning her journals at some point in her life. There was no way she wanted people in the future knowing about the actual possibility of time travel let alone the fact that it had already happened.

Every once in a while she looked back towards the entrance to the camp wondering when exactly Dutch and Micah would be back. She bit her nails nervously at the thought of Micah. She hadn't been looking for attention when she told Dutch and Arthur that she thought Micah knew.. the looks he had been giving her? Sure, she figured that they could have been because she kinda accused him to his face of setting up the ambush in Rhodes... still.

Finally, she heard both the voices of the man she loved and the man she hated with her entire being, "See? That wasn't so bad, Dutch. Nothing happened."

Dutch nodded, dismounting from his horse and walking into camp with Micah at his side, "No, it didn't go so bad. That's not saying he's to be trusted."

"Oh, not at all."

Celina eyed Dutch as he approached her and took note now Micah rolled his eyes upon seeing where he was going. She licked her lips to moisten them and then stood up herself and going to meet him in the middle of camp, "How'd it go?"

Dutch took a deep breath and nodded, "A little better than I expected, there was no shoot out."

"Good," her gaze drifted back over to Micah who had went off to speak with Bill and Javier, "Do you feel like going for a short ride?"

Dutch glanced around the camp to see everyone occupied with something, he seemed like he wanted to say yes but then shook his head, "No, it would be better to wait here. Didn't see Arthur after the O'Driscolls left. I want to make sure the boy makes it back ok. If not..."

Once again, she was grateful for Dutch playing along so well, "We can wait for him, I'm she he's fine."

...

Dutch had made the decision that they would all wait to move camp until the next morning in hopes that Arthur would show up later that night. He did, it wasn't until that evening when Arthur's horse came walking into camp, a barely conscious Arthur falling to the ground.

Upon realizing exactly who the horse had brought in, just about everyone ran to him, Dutch in the lead, immediately crouching down bedside him, Celina next to Dutch. Despite having known what would happen due to Celina's information, the leader still sounded truly panicked, "Arthur, Arthur, my dear boy, can you hear me?" His dark eyes assessed Arthur's state and he clenched his jaw, "Arthur."

Celina, from where she remained knelt at Dutch's side, felt tears prick her own eyes at the sight of her friend being in the state he was in. She really hoped that not helping Arthur would get Micah to back off with his own clear suspicions.

Relief washed over her upon seeing the outlaw open his eyes, "D-Dutch?"

"I'm here son," Dutch cupped his face gently and his voice cracked as he spoke, "I am here. You're going to be ok, you're safe now. It's all ok."

Everyone else stood around in shock at the condition which Arthur had returned to camp in. It really did seem as if he were half dead. Dutch motioned to Bill, "Come here, Bill, help me get him back to his tent."

Celina rose to her feet and moved out of the way as Dutch stood up as well, helping Arthur to his feet, Bill wrapping Arthur's right arm around his shoulders and Dutch taking Arthur's left side as they helped him hobble back to his tent.

Just as Micah was sneaking out of the camp in the midst of all the commotion, Celina's eyes landed on him. She called out to him in front of everyone else, "Where are you going, Micah?"

Micah paused where he stood by his horse, half mounted, "I'm scoping out that house we're heading to in the morning. After something like this, who knows what might be laying in wait for us."

Celina's brows furrowed, the house outside of Saint Denise? Surely the rat had to be lying because from what she knew, they weren't going to be ambushed there... not right away anyway. She nodded though, she'd play his game, "Well you shouldn't be going alone. If there's a trap for whatever reason the worst thing to be is alone."

Micah went to open his mouth to protest but Celina held her hand up and cut him off, "I insist." She looked over to John and Javier, "John, Javier, do the two of you want to come with Micah and I? We're gonna take another look at that house."

Micah looked incredibly irritated, which made Celina happy enough she had to fight to hide her smile. Checkmate, bitch. John sent a worried glance in the direction of Arthur but nodded as did Javier, both of them verbally confirming that they were in.

"Ok then." Celina mounted her horse along with the other two men and at that, they set off in the direction of their new camp. "So," Celina glanced over at Micah, riding right beside him, "What's got you so paranoid about this new camp?"

"Nothing has got me paranoid," Micah spit the words out with attitude, "Is there something wrong with wanting to make sure that everything is going smoothly or are you trying to throw random accusations at me again?"

She wished she could pull out her gun and shoot him as she wished she could so oftenly. Feeling as if she would lose self control to keep from doing just that if she continued talking to him, she dropped back to ride beside Javier and John. She hated that she was out riding around with Micah Bell- the very scum of the earth but she felt as if she didn't have a choice. She knew that he had to have been up to something other than checking on the house and she wanted to ensure he did not succeed.

"Do you think Arthur will be ok?" It was John who asked her the question and she nodded.

"I think he will be. He doesn't seem like the type of man to give up so easily. Just needs time and attention to recover in my opinion. Hell John, you got attacked by a pack of wolves and lived. Look at you, better than ever."

John smiled sheepishly and then Javier called up to Micah, "How far is this place from here anyway?"

Micah shrugged and Celina wondered if he even really knew himself. Had Micah ever been there himself? This would be interesting and she sure was ready to let him figure out the location himself. It seemed that the rat had read her mind though, "Well, I ain't ever actually been there before."

John shook his head, "Really, Micah? I'll take the lead then."

Celina rolled her eyes, "I say we let Micah lead, after all he did seem comfortable enough coming out here by himself."

"And I thank you so kindly for inviting yourselves along." Micah looked back at them as John picked up speed and passed him by, "Where are you going, Marston?"

"Getting us there faster, come on."

...

John had gotten them there pretty fast and Celina gawked for a moment at the sight of the house in person, it truly was huge and could have been beautiful at one point, or even then if people would have taken care of it.

The four of them dismounted the horses after riding around the premises for any sign of people and finding none. It had been agreed that they would check inside too, just in case. It was almost funny seeing Micah be so thorough in pretending this was what he had been intending to do upon trying to sneak out of camp. It really made her wonder who he was supposed to be meeting with or what he was supposed to be doing at the moment. It brought her pleasure to think she had kept things from going his way.

"Ok, John and I take upstairs, you and Javier search downstairs?" Celina kept her gaze on Micah, waiting for his answer.

He nodded, "Fine by me."

Upon entering the house Celina and John did just that, they went upstairs and began searching the bedrooms. Finally, Celina turned to John, keeping her voice at a whisper, "Do you trust Micah?"

John shook his head, "No. I don't trust Micah, what kind of question is that?"

Celina darted her tongue across her lips, "Can I trust you?"

His brows rose, "Of course."

She nodded, "I thought as much." Celina peered out the bedroom they were in then to check that Micah wasn't standing within close proximity, "I need to show you something."

The outlaws eyes widened, confusion evident, "Show me what?"

She tucked her lips in with slight nervousness before tugging off the glove on her right hand and rolling up her right sleeve, revealing her tattoos to John. She watched him closely as his face contorted in further confusion, "What're those?"

Celina swallowed, "Tattoos.. and they're my way to prove to you that I've come from the future. You can't tell anyone, John... only Hosea, Dutch and Arthur know... I'm telling you because I may need your help."

"My help with w-"

There was the sound of someone starting to come up the steps followed by Micah's voice, "Are you guys coming? I'd like to be out of here before it's totally dark."

Celina quickly rolled her sleeve back down and slipped on her glove, "Yea, we're coming." She shared a look with John reminding him not to say anything before the two of them left the room and quickly hustled down the stairs.

Micah was waiting a short ways from the bottom, "What were you two doing up there anyway?"

Celina shrugged and looked past Micah to Javier, "Are you ready to go?"

The Mexican nodded, "Sure am, let's get back."

...

By the time the three of them got back to camp, it was dark. Getting stuck out in the dark had been unavoidable though considering how late they had left. Really, they probably should have waited until the morning to head out but concerning the circumstances...

"It remains all clear and ready to be moved into in the morning." Micah patted John and Javier's shoulders as he walked past them and into the camp.

Celina rolled her eyes once again at Micah's behavior and made a beeline to Arthur's tent. Seeing him appear sound asleep in his cott, she approached and sat on the end of it, speaking softly, "Arthur?"

The cowboy opened his eyes slowly, telling her that he hadn't been truly asleep in the first place, "I'm alright."

She smiled at him tightly, still feeling guilty about him being in the situation he was in, "Can I get you anything?"

He should his head, "No, I'm ok." He smiled weakly, "I think I'll pull though."

"Well, you better."

"I heard you were out looking at that house with Micah of all people."

She nodded with a large yawn, "I was, it was as terrible as it sounds but I think I'm going to get some sleep now."

Arthur nodded slightly with a groan of pain, "You do that, we'll talk later."

She reached for his left hand, giving it a gentle sqeeze, "Goodnight."

He gave a gentle sqeeze back to her, "Goodnight Celina."

Taking a deep breath and reassuring herself that he would be alright, Celina let go of him and left his tent heading back in the direction of her and Dutch's. She smiled at the sight of the man she loved laying in bed on his back with his right arm slung across his eyes. He moved it from his face so he could see whoever it was approaching, "Ah, miss Knoll."

Celina laughed, and stripped down to her underwear before climbing into the bed and curling up beside him, warming up from the comforting heat of his body, "You're in bed early."

He shrugged and turned on his side so he was spooning her with one arm around her waist comfortably. She almost shivered at the sensation of his warm breath hitting the back of her neck, the smell of whisky lingering on his breath.

Celina reached and put her hand over his arm that he had wrapped around her, stroking her thumb across the back of his arm in a soothing manner, "Arthur will be fine. You've got to trust me on that. I never would have said that he'd be ok if I didn't know it myself."

Dutch nodded and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her neck, making her squirm, "I trust that he will be. That boy is like a son to me.. more than a son." He shook his head, "To see him in pain like that. I would so much rather it be me."

As if it were possible, she tried to cuddle even closer to him, weaving her fingers through his at the thought of him having to go through what Arthur did. Arthur going through it was hard enough, terrible. But the thought of Dutch going through it and at the hands of Colm O'Driscoll and his gang was simply unbearable. She expressed that, "I wouldn't rather it be you. Not at all."

They laid together like that for hours, not even caring that it was only seven O'Clock at night. They talked quietly to one another about their dreams, told stories of things which had passed. Spoke of the lighter things which they hoped the future would hold... what their land would be like out west. The two of them shared a few kisses throughout the course of their conversation, delighting in having the other right there next to them until the both of them drifted off to sleep.

...

A/N: There's the new chapter, sorry if it was a bit boring, kinda a filler chapter but still needed the same. Some fluff in there and some satisfaction in ruining one of Micah's small plans. Don't worry, Micah will be dealt with eventually but he is still important right now.

What do you guys think about how Micah's eventually going to be brought down and who will be involved. I think I know but I want to see what you guys think too. Also, about Celina showing John her tattoos and is in the process of trying to explain things to him?

I do want to point out as well that the timeline will be drug out some due to Celina's presence so things will be a bit different. I can't help but think that with each chapter I write, we get closer to the part where they rob the Saint Denis bank ? ﾟﾘﾢ

Anyway, next chapter will be up soon!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	29. Chapter 29

They had been at the camp outside of Saint Denis for a few days now, Arthur regaining his strength spelt but surely and moving around camp more and more each day. Most of his time was spent sitting at the game table either actually playing games or making sarcastic comments to everyone at any chance he got.

Dutch had still been talking to Micah and it seemed their conversations always happened when she wasn't within ear shot to hear them. She figured that that detail was the doing of Micah, lurking around, always waiting for her to leave Dutch's side. It wasn't like she could cling to him constantly, that would be ridiculous.

...

Another week went by, then a few more days and it was truly great to see Arthur back to normal and with a trimmed beard. Actually, he had made the decision to shave his beard, leaving himself with only a moderately thick mustache. It admittedly looked pretty good.

"Where's Jack?!" Abigail ran past Celina, nearly knocking her back into the house as she tried to make her way through the door.

Celina caught her balance though and looked at Abigail with shock on her face, "Did you just ask where Jack is?"

Abigail nodded, her breathing heavy and frantic, "He's gone, I can't- I can't find him anywhere!"

Celina's mouth gaped open for a moment. How could that be? She shook her head, "He's got to be around here somewhere, Abigail. He couldn't have just disappeared."

"Yea," she sniffled and was starting to cry.

Celina took a deep breath, she was terrible at comforting people and truly, it made her feel rather uncomfortable to see someone crying, "Hey," she pulled her into a gentle hug, "I'm going to talk to John, ok?"

Abigail nodded and sniffled again as they pulled away. Celina immediately hurried out of the house and tried to ignore everyone hustling about, looking for the gang's youngest member. She immediately looked around for John, locating him speaking to Dutch. Picking up her pace, she approached them, not caring about interrupting, "John,-"

"You," Dutch pointed an accusing finger at her, "Did you tell those boys to go forth with the theft of those horses and destruction of those fields?"

Celina's eyes widened, that's what happened, that's what would have had to happen in order for Jack to have been taken. She shook her head, taken aback that Dutch would have even asked her that question, "Of course I didn't order that to happen. I don't give the orders around here, Dutch. You do."

John stared at Celina and Dutch, his eyes flicking between the two of them, "Micah said that you had talked Dutch right out of it. That you wanted this done and went to him about that." He lowered his voice, "Why would you want that to happen when you knew what would happen to Jack? I don't know how you know-"

"I never wanted that!" Celina's voice raised to a yell, attracting looks of interest and she took a deep breath, lowering her voice again, "You guys do realize that Micah is the one who told you this, right?" Celina shook her head, "John, common, why would I do something like this and then ask you if you trusted Micah and reveal to you what I did? Think."

John grew quiet as he thought about what Celina pointed out and Celina took the chance to address Dutch, "I didn't do this, Dutch." She laughed humorlessly, "Micah must have set me up. I told you. I think he knows and I told you before that he's the rat. Why is it so hard for you to believe that? You've known him for all of maybe nine months."

The leader crossed his arms, "And I've known you for all of three months."

Her eyes widened and she stepped forward, "Dutch, please. I love you. Think about this, please." When Dutch didn't seem willing, Celina looked over at John, "John, are you with me? I have literally no motive in this and you said yourself that you don't trust Micah."

"That man has been nothing but loyal." Dutch said, nodding to Micah who was across camp looking as panicked as anyone else, "How do I know that you're on our side?"

"On your side?" Celina huffed in exasperation, "How do you know I'm on your side?" She nodded, hardly being able to believe the situation she found herself in, "Listen to you. Have I ever done anything to make you doubt that I want anything but the best for the lot of you? Ever?" When he didn't respond, Celina pulled at her hair, "You were fine trusting me up until now. Until Micah accused me of this to throw the heat off of himself." She narrowed her eyes as she stared up at Dutch, "This has been what he's been talking to you about, isn't it? Whispering things in your ear about me? All leading up to this huge blow."

Dutch looked like he wanted to say something, but Celina didn't care, didn't give him the chance, "You're a damn good actor, Dutch. I would have never guessed this was how you really felt about me."

John was watching the exchange silently, clearly unsure of that to do, let alone even think. There were probably others trying to hear the conversation that had both Dutch and Celina's faces redenned in anger but neither of them cared to pay the rest of the gang any attention at the moment.

Dutch finally spoke, and when he did, it was steady, almost eerily calm, "I know that you are from the future, Miss Knoll... but where's the proof that you haven't been here for a bit longer than you revealed? How do we know you aren't working for the Pinkertons, or worse, the O'Driscolls?!" The look on his face was near murderous, hateful enough to make Celina take a step back.

Tears pricked at her eyes and she shook her head again, pointing at him, "This is all it takes, huh? Micah worms his way into your head and all of a sudden the woman who has offered you nothing but love and companionship is seen as your enemy. Think, D-Dutch." She choked on his name, tears began streaming down her face.

"You are sick." It was Micah's voice which was heard next and Celina shot him a look that held so much hate, by all rights it would have killed him if looks could do such a thing.

Her whole body felt like pins and needles, her hand shook with nerves as she ground out her words, "I know what you did, Micah. You go straight to hell."

Micah looked unphased and pointed at himself, "Me?" He shook his head, "No, how I remember it, it was you who asked me to go ahead and do this with the plantation houses. I didn't question it." He held his hands up in feigned innocence, "I didn't think I could trust you but I thought you were just... I don't know. I didn't expect something like this to happen from listening to you."

She set her jaw, "I never said such thing. Even if I would have, why would you go against Dutch like that? That proves right there you're not loyal to him."

John finally spoke up again, glancing around at everyone who was in close proximity to see their attention for the most part had been taken away from looking for Jack and instead trying to be nosy about what was going on, "Micah, you did actually try to convince us that the orders had originally come from Dutch...'

Dutch took a step back to study Micah for any sign that that was the truth, "Is that so?"

Micah nodded quickly, "It was, Dutch. I just really thought that if we could get away with doing this, it would be the nail in the coffin for her and everyone else would see her for how and who she is." He shifted his gaze to Celina, pride swelling in his chest that maybe, just maybe he would get Dutch to side with him. Really, all of this manipulating was making him quite a lot of money from both the Pinkertons and O'Driscolls. Not only that, but it was fun as he ever had it, "Think Dutch, how many times has things went bad where she's concerned and how fast has she been to always point a finger at me?"

Dutch's expression was once again unreadable, "Once. Other than this, once."

Micah raised a brow, "Are you willing to see how many more times it happens, Dutch? Or are you going to cut her loose?"

Celina swallowed, how was she supposed to make a life for herself in the year she was in? It was 1899 for crying out loud and she really didn't have any experience in living in the current year. Even if she did, getting kicked out of the gang? Her heart broke at the thought. She loved the gang, she would not ever do anything to harm them. The thought of them believing otherwise was like a stab to the gut. Again, she opened her mouth, "Before you make any decisions, Dutch... why don't we go find the boy?"

Dutch looked over at her, the expression on his face incredibly troubled but he nodded, "Where would you presume to look first?"

Celina bit her lip nervously, she couldn't just outright tell them Angelo Bronte's mansion... Micah was standing right there, "I would start with either the Grays or the Braithwaites, doesn't matter who, gotta be one of them though. Nothing else would make sense."

Dutch nodded, everything about him was screaming tension. She could tell that he didn't know who to believe, her, or Micah. More tears pricked at her eyes she was going to kill Micah before he did anything more to hurt her family. She would have to do it soon too... and she would need help.

"Well," Dutch gestured to John, "Let's get everyone rounded up and get going. We don't want to waist a second when it comes to getting Jack back."

John nodded, "Thank you, Dutch."

Dutch's eyes scanned the camp for all of his fighters as he walked out in the direction the horses were kept, "Boys, we're paying Mrs. Braithwaite a visit. Mount up and let's go get Jack back."

Micah stared at Celina as she tried to head out with the rest of them, "Where do you think you're going?"

She lifted her lip at him in an involuntary snarl, "Where do you think I'm going? I'm coming to get Jack back with the rest of you."

Micah looked her up and down slowly before running his tongue over his lips in a predatory way, "I don't think you have any balls, girl. So, unless you want to show me, I'd say you need to stay at the house with the other women."

Celina flicked him off and started to walk towards her horse anyway, she would be right there beside everyone else as they shot the Braithwaite mansion to he'll for taking Jack. It surprised her when Dutch was the next one to say something, "Did you not hear him? You'll stay here."

Celina froze in her tracks and looked up at him to see him mounted on his horse, looking at her with a look of finality on his face. She raked her hand through her hair, "Dutch," she laughed lightly, she couldn't believe how the day was going, "Please, you know I can shoot pretty well. I can be of help."

Hosea looked over at Dutch as did Arthur, the oldest was the one to speak, "Don't you think she should come along? We don't exactly know what we're walking into, Dutch. One extra gun could make all the difference."

Dutch shook his head, "She will set this one out. I need to think without her hovering over my shoulder."

Celina clenched her jaw tightly, was this really how it was going to go? Was Micah going to start turning the group against her one by one? Was he going to cost her the family she loved more than anything. The family that she would so quickly lay her life down for. She shook her head and the words she said hardly made their way out of her mouth as she kept her gaze locked on the dark brown eyes she loved so much, "Ok. Have it your way then."

It was in that moment that she realized she may have to choose between saving Dutch's life and having him love her. She forced herself to break eye contact with him and turned on her heel before heading back into the house. Only after she had her back to the boys did she allow tears to begin steaming down her face again.

She passed Molly without paying the slightest attention to her, dodging away from her touch when she went to lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. She felt like if anyone tried to touch her at all in the state she was in then she would break their finger. No questions asked.

Pushing the door open, she hurried upstairs to the room Dutch and herself shared keeping her composure for the most part before making her way through bedroom doors just in time before all the pieces crumbled despite herself. She fell to her knees, hitting them hard on the wooden floor and just like that, the dam had broken and she was crying and crying and crying.

Her whole frame shook with the force of her sobs. She cried so hard that the tension in her chest was so intense that it was truly painful, it seeming almost impossible for her to draw in a deep enough breath to begin breathing properly.

Somehow in her brokenness she managed to make her way to the bed which she and Dutch had shared just the night before. She climbed onto the bed, curling into a ball in the center of it and clutching the sheets helplessly. Micah was worming his way into Dutch's head and could she really do anything about it? She feared no.

She thought back to the look on Dutch's face, in his eyes when he had accused her of possibly partnering with the O'Driscolls and/or Pinkertons. As if she would ever do such a thing. Did he really think that she would be capable of that? Was that what he thought of her. How that must make him feel... how that made her feel to think about how that must make him feel if, indeed that was how he felt.

Unless, she tried to look on the bright side, what if Dutch was doing what they had agreed to do in the Canoe with Hosea and Arthur and pretend to trust Micah? She wanted to believe that so badly but she knew that it wasn't true. She could tell that it wasn't true. Micah had really, truly gotten Dutch to start, or at least consider starting to actually trust him.

She was going to lose him.

Upon hearing the door creak open, she immediately forced herself to quit crying, she didn't want anyone to see her in the state she was in. She felt stupid for acting so weak but she couldn't help it if she were being honest with herself. She felt as if she were stuck on the sidelines as she watched her worst nightmare play out before her very eyes.

"Celina?" The voice belonged to Sadie Adler, she had been left behind with Celina and the other women.

Celina wiped at her eyes, in attempt to dry her tears, when she said she didn't want anyone to see her in the state she was in, Sadie was no exception. She sniffled, there was no way she was going to get herself under control in time to keep Sadie noticed she was currently a mess. In fact, it seemed that the woman older than herself had come to check on her for for the very reason of knowing she was distraught. She responded in the most collected tone she could currently muster, "I don't really feel like talking now, Sadie."

The woman didn't move from the doorway, "You don't have to talk about it but I just wanted to let you know that Abigail saw how Dutch was being towards you... we didn't exactly hear what was being said but we didn't need to to know that whatever it was wasn't... wasn't good. Are you ok?"

The young woman forced herself to sit up on the bed, not bothering to try and hide her redenned face, "No, I'm really not ok... at all. I love Dutch, but right now I just..." She shook her head. Was allowing herself to love the charismatic leader just setting herself up for heartbreak?

"Well," Sadie shifted her weight, "I know how men can be sweetie. My Jakie and I, God rest his soul were always sweet on eachother but that didn't mean we didn't fight. That said, how Dutch-" she stopped herself, obviously unclear on how she wanted to word what it was she had to say, "Jake never acted like what it looked like Dutch was acting like towards me. If you-"

Celina shook her head, "Dutch wouldn't ever hit me. But I know, Jake sounds like he was a special man." She sniffled, "I think Dutch is a good man- he can be a good man I should say." She wondered for a moment if she would ever see him be the man that she believed he could be... the man which Arthur had described prior to the boat incident in Blackwater.

"I've seen him be a good man." Sadie nodded in agreement, "He and Arthur rescued me from where those awful O'Driscolls had... Dutch and Arthur rescued me and I know I would be dead somewhere right now if it hadn't been for them."

The question she wanted to ask came flying out of her mouth, "Do you trust Micah?"

Sadie looked at her as if she were crazy, "Do I trust Micah? I don't trust that greasy man any further than I can throw him."

Celina nodded, "Can I say something to you in confidence?"

"Sure."

Celina picked at the bedsheets for a moment as she thought about what she was going to say. She only hoped that she wouldn't be shooting herself in the foot by saying what she was about to, "I really think something should be done about a man like Micah."

Sadie's eyes widened in surprise and she entered the room the rest of the way before shutting the door behind herself, "Something should be done about him as in you want to see him hang?"

The younger shrugged carelessly, "Hang, be buried alive... burned to death, death by a thousand cuts... It really don't matter to me how he goes, but he needs to go and soon. I know how he is, Sadie and he is going to be the death of this gang... this, family if something isn't done about him. He's getting into Dutch's head, keeping him from thinking clearly. That's what today was about, Micah going behind his back and taking out the Grays tobacco fields and stealing the Braithwaites horses. You know, he told Dutch, John and whoever else helped with that that I was the one who wanted it done... that I had talked Dutch out of it just to turn around and give the orders to go through with it myself."

Sadie was listening intently, so Celina continued to build her case, "What reason would I have for doing something like that? And the worse part is it seems that Dutch doesn't know who to believe, Micah or myself." She shook her head, "I just can't believe Micah's incredible ability to manipulate Dutch. He's going to drive him insane, Sadie. I need your help to stop him. I can't watch the people I love fall. Not again..."

She raised a brow at her and Celina silently cursed to herself for letting the cat out of the bag by accident, "Again?"

She rolled her eyes, might as well show her now, Sadie didn't seem to be the type to go around talking to everyone about what she told her... or showed her. With that thought Celina rolled up her right sleeve and pulled off her glove, extending her hand to Sadie so she could clearly see the marks on her skin.

Sadie stepped closer to her to get a better look at the tattoos, "What's that from?"

Once again, she found herself explaining her tattoos, "They're a form of self-expression... permanite body art of the future... I have them because I came here from the future." She studied her face for any sign that she was being close-minded towards what she was telling her. "I came here from 2018 actually... don't know how or why I got here. All I know is that I'm here now and that I know a lot about what we're going to possibly be faced with in the near future. I know that something needs to be done about Micah. If you care about the boys at all, please help me." The look on her face was one of hope, her complexion beginning to return to normal due to the fact she had finally stopped crying.

Sadie was quiet for a moment as she let or tried to let everything Celina had said to her sink in. She shook her head with a small smile, it wasn't that anything was funny or that she didn't believe her, just that all the information she had been bombarded by was a lot. Almost too much to process, "So you're from the future."

Celina nodded, she felt stupid in that moment, really, how crazy did that sound to tell someone that she's from the future and insist that something needed to be done with Micah? She just hoped that Sadie would believe her and not let anyone else know about the conversation they were having.

Sadie finally spoke again, "You know, you're lucky you have those... tattoos because if they weren't there like they are there's no way I would believe you." She stared at them for a moment more before reaching out and touching the gun on her forearm gently, "Seeing them with my own eyes..." She nodded, "I'm going to have to believe you.." She stuck her tongue into the side of her cheek for a brief moment in thought, "What are we going to do about Micah?"

...

A/N: So, this is officially the longest chapter yet! Kinda excited about posting it for that reason alone. Anyway, a lot of drama and angst in this one, Micah had been working on Dutch for the last week or so and Dutch isn't sure of what or who he should be believing at this point. As we all know, Micah unfortunately has a way of whispering in Dutch's ear in a way which makes Dutch believe him.

Someone blow Micah's brains out now ?

But the question came up if I'm now making updates every two days and I can't really answer that question. Sometimes there might be a day with no new chapter, sometimes I'll be on a kick where I pump out a new one every day. Just depends on that thing called life as well as motivation lol.

Hope you all enjoyed the new chapter and as usual, I love reading your comments so keep them coming!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	30. Chapter 30

Everyone except Dutch, Arthur and John had come home after killing nearly the entire Braithwaite family. Celina hadn't left her and Dutch's room but watched through the window as the men filed into camp. It would only be a matter of time before Dutch, John and Arthur would come back with Jack. The questions were if she would be sleeping apart from Dutch tonight- the answer was probably. That was ssomething she hadn't done in weeks but felt as it it were necessary for the night if only for her own sanity.

She figured she could try to talk to him but knew that the odds of that going well were practically non-existent. She knew Dutch well enough to know that he would throw up walls right and left and turn the conversation on her if he could in any way, shape or form. Unless... Unless he actually had been acting earlier. She hoped to God that that was the case.

Another hour or so went by and there was no sign of the four of them. She sighed dramatically and laid across the bed on her back. She probably would have still been crying if it were possible but she had exhausted her capacity to do so for the day it seemed. Finally, she collected herself and got up off the bed knowing that laying around would do her no good. She was going to go into Saint Denis herself... not to meet up with the boys, but just to take a look around.

Or was she? She sat back down on the bed again, almost too depressed to muster the energy and will-power to do anything other than just sit and think about how terribly everything might be falling apart. She found herself curling back up in bed and pulling the covers up to her shoulders, snuggling down into the bed in attempt to hide from the world.

...

By the time Dutch got back to camp, it was dark but the day had been a success. He had been invited to the mayor's party, he chuckled at the thought, one of America's most wanted criminals being invited to the mayor's house for a party. A high class party. The first person he wanted to boast about his success to was Celina.

Guilt hit him and hard as he thought about how he had treated the young woman before he had left. What was he supposed to think though? One of them were lying and the way she hung around the rest of the gang, namely Arthur, it seemed that Micah may be right and that her eyes may not only be for him anyway. If Micah was looking out for him regarding his newest relationship, why would Micah be secretly going behind his back. He shook his head, he hated to think it but it seemed maybe the woman did have some ulterior motives. He just didn't know what they were.

Micah had been pointing out to him how eager she was to always get in on the action... like it was all an adrenaline rush for her. After all, she did start caring for the gang through playing a video game... maybe that's what she looked at life here as, just a game. He hoped not but he couldn't be sure, he wasn't sure of anything.

Actually, he was truly leaning toward thinking that Micah had been made out as a villian in the retelling of history just for entertainment purposes... it certainly was a possibility. In that case, Celina really wouldn't know if Micah wasn't truly a rat.

He sighed, he didn't want to be mad at her. He had no solid proof that she was truly against him, yet. He would need more evidence before totally distrusting her and if he got the evidence that she was a traitor... He swallowed. Would he be able to follow the rules of what happens to traitors if he had to apply them to her? He somehow had his doubts although he was the very one who had created the rules in the first place. Well, he and Hosea. Hosea who, like Arthur clearly thought the woman was exactly who she claimed to be.

Of course Arthur would believe her and he supposed Celina would just keep drawing more and more of the boys into believing her whether they should or not.

"Abbigail!" He shouted, attracting everyone's attention, "We got your boy, we got Jack! He is just fine."

Abigail came running right past him thanking him profusely as well as thanking Arthur. She wasted no time in pulling little Jack into a tight hug followed by John. Dutch studied the happy reunion of the family with a small smile before walking towards the house once again. He had the feeling that Celina just may try to stab him upon sight.

He walked into the old mostly rundown house, seeing that it didn't appear that she was outside. He nodded hello to Hosea, "Do you know where Celina is?"

Hosea shrugged, "Try upstairs, she hasn't come out of your room ever since you left."

Another pang of guilt hit him and he made his way to the stairs, going up them quietly. He was going to get stabbed, or shot, one or the other... maybe both. He wouldn't ever admit to the woman how nervous she had made him the first time she truly lost her head with him over him wanting to hit the plantation houses. Now, Seeing what a mess it had caused, he understood why she had talked him out of it... at least originally.

His gaze fell upon the closed door and he cracked his neck, preparing himself to enter the room. He pushed the door open slowly and peered inside, surprised to see Celina curled up in the center of their bed. Dutch took a deep breath and entered the room, sitting down beside her, hoping that the shift of weight on the bed wouldn't wake her up, "I'm sorry." He studied her sleeping form with a touch of helplessness in his usually confident voice.

It was true that it wasn't clear to him who he should be trusting but it was also clear to him that he did feel regret over acting the way he had before he had his evidence. He shook his head, feeling more and more like an idiot than ever, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean." Apologizing was hard, so hard.

He went to open his mouth to say something else but she spoke first, "Really? Because that's a crap apology."

He couldn't help but crack a small smile at the retort of the fire-cracker of a woman. She had got him good, pretending to be asleep like she had, "I am sorry for the accusations I threw at you out there."

She rolled over so she was facing him, his apology not making it's way to her heart, "You say you're sorry but that doesn't mean what you said isn't how you feel. You don't trust me, Dutch."

He couldn't lie to her, "I don't know who or what I trust right now."

She laughed, truly laughed, it put him on the defensive somewhat that she seemed to think something about the situation was funny. Celina sat up so she could look straight at him. He noticed that her face was redenned as if she had been laying in bed alone, crying, "Is this the way it's really going to be, Dutch? Micah is trying to frame me and you're siding with him."

Dutch shook his head, "I'm not siding with him."

She raised her brow challengingly, "If that's the case then are you playing along with him like we agreed to so we can take him out?" When Dutch didn't answer her, she raised her hands to the ceiling, "See?" Her voice caught in her throat for a moment, "This is what he wants, Dutch. He wants to pull you away from me because he knows that I'm good for you. He knows that I can see right through him."

"You are all caught up in how history was presented to you. You weren't here before, you don't know how things are going to go for sure. You can't know that he's actually a rat. Micah is a good, smart man. You've got to see what he does for this group, he's helping us. Why don't you try trusting me for once?"

Celina closed her eyes tightly, this conversation felt as if it had the power to kill her. Her heart was physically hurting with each word that came out of his mouth, "You are siding with him, Dutch. You're defending him." Neither one of them were yelling at the other just yet, "No, in 2018, I suppose I couldn't confirm that everything I knew about you guys was accurate... but now that I'm here? I - yeah, Micah's the rat, Dutch. Hell, Red Dead Redemption is so historically accurate that they even hit casting for all of your voices spot on. God knows how they did it but my point is I really doubt they would have made Micah out to be the bad guy just for fun. The history of the downfall of this gang is absolutely factually accurate, Dutch. You've got to trust me." When he remained silent, Celina took a deep breath, "Just like I know that you got invited to the mayor's party tonight by Angelo Bronte."

Dutch was staring straight ahead, not looking at her, finally, he stood up. He could feel his control slipping away and he was going to say what he had to say whether he thought it was a good idea or not, "What's been going on with you and Arthur?"

She was rather taken aback by the question which was completely unrelated to what she thought they were having a serious conversation about, "Nothing is going on between Arthur and I. As you know, he was captured just to get Micah off my back. I was helping him to recover, Dutch. It was the least I could do, and he's my friend." She stood up as well, "You just don't trust me with anything, so you?"

Dutch raised his hand in attempt to stop her from escalating with him, "That is not what I was implying. I was only asking."

"Mmm hmmm." She stared into his eyes getting quite ticked off by the second, "Or you were thinking that maybe something was going on between us and he was trying to steal me away from you like I stole you away from Molly? I'm glad you're so mature to keep how you feel bottled up for so long and then let it out at a time like this when you're already doubting my entire credibility as to being a trustworthy person. Why not just get everything off your chest at once. If your doubt towards me is so strong then let's just be done here and now." She held up a finger to signify that she wasn't yet done saying what she had to say, "Unless none of this is how you really feel and your buddy Micah has been whispering in your ear for this past week in attempt to get you to think you feel this way."

"Celina-"

"-What is is, Dutch? Is it going to be Micah or me?"

His eyes widened, "What do you mean is it going to be Micah or you?"

She laughed humorlessly and crossed her arms. She walked up to him slowly, tilting her head back so she could make eye contact with him, "I mean exactly what I said. I'm not going to leave you now, Dutch. You don't have to choose now. But, if this behavior continues for much longer, you can bet your life that I won't stick around to see him destroy you. It's going to come to the point that you have to choose him or me."

His lip lifted in a bit of a snarl, "You're giving me an ultimatum."

She shrugged and held his gaze, "I'm trying to save your life, Dutch. I wouldn't leave this gang, not in a thousand years, so I don't want you even thinking that. You'd be the one I'd leave. You'd see me from time to time around here with Artgur, Hosea, Lenny, Sean, Javier, John, Bill, Josiah when he's here, but you... Dutch, if you choose Micah over me, you best never speak to me again." She shook her head, "I mean it."

He looked hurt, with reason too, Celina had possibly given him one of the most serious ultimatums of his life and frankly, the seriousness of her tone hit him rather hard. He squinted his eyes at her, hardly believing what he had heard her say, "You would really do that?"

She nodded, tears once again pricking at her eyes, what she was saying was the truth revealing itself and she stood by her previous statement, "I don't think I have a choice, Dutch. I couldn't be around you if you choose him over me. I would have to act as if you were a ghost, I can't-" she choked on a sob and pointed at him, "I can't stand around and watch you change knowing I can't do anything about it. I'm begging you, Dutch."

His expression turned to one of no emotion, "You were right about Bronte inviting us to the mayor's party. Can you believe that, us, some of America's most wanted attending the mayor's party?"

Celina shook her head, Dutch had dismissed her, totally changing the conversation again. She smiled tightly, sarcastically, "How ironic. I didn't know that this party was more important than your sanity."

Dutch nodded, "I heard what you said."

She looked at him expectantly, "And?"

"And nothing, I know you're concerned about me and what you think you know about Micah. That's it though, you think you know. You have to trust me that I am right about this. I won't change and there's no need for you to leave."

She took a deep breath and nodded, "Ok." There would be no point in arguing with him, not now. It was clear that Micah had really begun pulling the wool over his eyes. She needed to get together a team to help her with this Micah problem and create a plan to do away with him and fast. It was clear to her that Micah being forcefully removed from the picture would be necessary for Dutch's sanity and for the gangs survival. She placed a gentle kiss to his cheek, "I'll trust you, Dutch." She pulled away to look him in the eyes, "Please, please be careful."

The look on his face softened and he raised his right hand to her face, cupping her cheek gently and grazing his thumb over her bottom lip, "I want you to come to the party with me."

She took a deep breath, was she really going to just let him send her into one extreme emotion only to let him pull her out of it whenever he made the slightest attempt? No. She wasn't his puppet and she wasn't going to let him treat her so poorly and let him off the hook so easily... no matter what a blast she figured it would be to attend that party with all of those high-class people. She had to admit, it did sound pretty interesting. Still, she shook her head, she wouldn't just jump to please him at every chance, "I don't know if I want to, honestly. I'll think about it. When is it?"

"Here in a few days."

She shrugged, "We'll see."

He seemed surprised, honestly seemed genuinely surprised that she wasn't chomping at the bit to go to the party with him, "We'll see?"

She nodded with a less than humored laugh, "Yes, we'll see. Did you really expect me to jump at the chance to act like everything is fine between us?"

Dutch looked uncomfortable as if the question she asked was a trick question, "I was hoping that you would accept my apology and we could move past this."

Celina stared at him for a silent moment and then another moment longer before blinking slowly, "Accept your apology?" Side-eyed him, "What apology would that be? The one where you said your sorry for throwing accusations at me? Because that is still not an acceptable apology in my book." She mocked him, "I'm really sorry I accused you of possibly betraying me. It's only because I'm Dutch Van Der Linde, emphasis on the 'Der' and I don't trust anyone."

His upper lip twitched and she could tell that he was once again on edge. She didn't care and continued, "I'm so tough, I shoot and rob people and I just don't understand why the law is after me."

Dutch tilted his head to the side as he tried to control his rising temper, "Miss Knoll, please-"

She rested her hand on the pommel of her knife attatched to the belt she wore, "Call me by my last name one more time and I honestly will stab you, Dutch. Do not test me."

He raised his brows challengingly, "Try to stab me, see what happens."

Her hand dropped from her knife in defeat, "Why can't you just believe me?"

"Because, it is Micah and you against one another and I just... i don't know. For once in my life, I don't know. Micah has been nothing but loyal, I have no reason not to trust him. You-"

She bit down on her lip, eyeing him up and down for once in disgust, it was if she didn't even recognize the man who was standing in front of her, "What about me?"

Dutch gestured to her, giving up on trying to tread lightly with his words... as if that were what he was doing in the first place, "You just show up out of nowhere telling me not to trust Micah and to do this and not do that. How do I know, really know who you truly are? You're not even from the same decade as us, how do I know you aren't setting us up, that you don't see us as scum like so many others do?"

She pursed her lips and nodded, "Ok." She sat down on the edge of the bed, "I don't see you as scum, not one bit, Dutch. I have been attracted to what you and the gang stand for since I first learned of you guys. Drawn to you in a way I just can't explain. I love you, and I love this gang." All emotion had drained from her voice due to how mentally exhausted she felt, "I thought that I made it clear in the beginning that I'm on your side." She shrugged, "I'm sorry that as soon as Micah points a finger at me, you seem to forget all about that."

Dutch's brows furrowed, it actually looked like he was using the brain God had gifted him with for the first time that day, "It's not like that. I just... I."

Celina scoffed at him, unable to stand being around him in that moment, expecially when he couldn't even seem to make a true argument for himself. She said what she truly wanted to say deep down in her heart of hearts. She practically spit her words at him, "Take Micah's dick out of your mouth and think straight, Dutch. When you do that, come find me."

His mouth gaped open, never in his life having been talked to like that. He wanted to snap back at her, but found he couldn't. It was as if he had lost the ability to say anything as he watched her push her way through the door, slamming it shut behind her.

...

A/N: Dutch really needs to get his crap together and realize what an idiot he's being. Might be over-doing Dutch's hard headedness but then again, he is Dutch, so maybe not. Plus, we haven't seen Dutch in a situation like this before though, so...

And can I just point out that I really enjoyed writing the 'Micah's dick' comment? Kinda thought it was a good quote, gold lol.

But anyway, what did you all think about this chapter? Do you think she's going to leave right now or do you think it'll take more for her to come to that decision for sure? Should she leave now or hang tight for a bit longer?

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	31. Chapter 31

Due to Dutch's actions, Celina found herself staying away from camp as much as possible the next couple days. It was rediculous, she thought for him to treat her as he had and frankly, she didn't want to waste any time looking at him let alone talking to him. From the time she did spend in camp, she saw that Dutch was still just as happy to chat with Micah as ever. It was truly perplexing how she was ever going to get through his thick scull but like she had previously concluded, it seemed to her that she would have to remove Micah from the picture for any success.

She had a plan in mind that she hoped would be able to be successfully executed sooner than later. She just needed more people on her side. So far she knew she had Arthur, that was a no-brainer..

Sadie, it seemed John would help, and Hosea likely would as well. She needed more though because if that group invited Micah out of camp, it would scream a trap. Micah would have to well and truly be an idiot to willingly go off with them thinking that they didn't intend him harm. Despite how much she didn't like it, she had to admit that Micah didn't seem like that much of a fool.

She needed some people who the rat would be more likely to trust... Bill or Javier would be a good choice to get on the team... a real good choice. They were so loyal to Dutch though so she doubted that they would even really be a true option.

She watched the camp activities from the tree stump she sat on, eyeing Dutch where he stood talking to Hosea about God knows what. If they could just get more people on board with their plan then they could lure Micah out and ambush him. They could pass it off as the doing of the law or bounty hunters. Really though, they could have him strung up in a barn somewhere, begging for his life. She smiled a bit at the thought of that, make the pig squeal.

She watched carefully when none other than Molly O'Shea made her way up to Dutch and Hosea and began running her greatly annoying mouth. Dutch nodded at whatever she had said with a small smile making Celina's blood boil with hatred. What was Molly doing talking to Dutch and why on God's green earth was he smiling at her?

Celina stood up from the stump, ready to interveine if Molly so much as made one single move on the leader. It was true that she couldn't stand Dutch too much at the moment but that didn't mean that made him any less taken by her. He was fully taken, fully Celina's as she herself and Dutch had agreed to define their relationship in such a manner almost two months ago.

She began to walk in their direction calmly, pretending as if her motive was not to eaves drop but rather to go into the house for one reason or another. As she passed them though, Dutch stopped her, "Have you decided whether or not you're going to attend the ball with us, Miss Knoll?"

Celina thought for a moment and glanced over to Molly who seemed to have tensed of the thought of her attending. It took nearly all she had to refrain from reaching out and attempting to slap the red-head across the face for the challenging look she was fixing her with. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that the other woman was hoping she wouldn't go as well. It was clear that she wished her to be absent, probably to try to score with Dutch once more based on the way she had been openly eyeing him for the last few days.

Celina bit the inside of her jaw, she still didn't much feel like being around Dutch at the moment but she figured that she would have to get over being mad at him eventually and the ball may be a good place to start. If anything, she could keep Molly away from him. So, she took the only option that seemed plausable to her and nodded, "I'll come along."

Dutch smiled at her then, seeming truly happy that she had given in, "Alright, let's round up Arthur and Bill and let's get out of here."

Celina laughed, "You're telling me that Bill Williamson is going to a ball?"

Dutch laughed and Hosea held an amused smile on his face. It was Dutch who answered the question though, "Indeed he is. We're going to look great, us four boys and you two ladies. No one will suspect a thing."

"Arthur, Bill," Dutch called out to the men as he began the walk out to the horses with Hosea, Celina and Molly in tow, "We need to get going if we're ever going to make it to the party in time."

Arthur looked over at Dutch from where he sat writing in his journal, "So we're really doing this thing?"

Hosea chuckled, "I'm afraid so. It seems our old friend Dutch Van Der Linde is finally showing his true colors, social climbing."

Arthur rolled his eyes as Dutch spoke, "Ol Senior Bronte has invited us to the ball, Cinderella. So my suggestion is that we go and get you a gown."

...

The stagecoach was cramped on the way to the mayor's mansion but Dutch had insisted that they take it anyway. Something about not wanting to go riding into the place like the outlaws they all were. It made since, for once, Celina supposed. She was just grateful to be crammed between Dutch and Arthur, ensuring that Molly didn't get to sit beside the leader during the ride. It may have been petty for her to care so much and be so happy that Molly was the one sitting furthest away from Dutch on the other side of the stagecoach in the corner opposite of the side he sat.

They were all currently experiencing a fit of laughter at the situation they were in. Dutch was the one currently leading the jokes, "We are rediculous."

Arthur struggled to speak through his laughter, "I've never been to a ball in my life."

Dutch glanced over at him, amusement dancing in his dark eyes, "I haven't either, son. If I'm being honest."

Celina shook her head at the boys, her heart feeling full with the positive atmosphere around them even with Molly's presence. Honestly, Celina found two things hilarious above any joke that could be told... the fact that Dutch had curled the corners of his moustache upwards was utterly rediculous, right beside the fact that Bill Williamson was right across from her in a suit that looked to fit just a little too tight. Of course, they probably all thought she was laughing at their jokes and not so much at their current attire... and facial hair.

Hosea was quiet for a moment before speaking with a tone of fondness of the past, "I used to attend balls quite often actually.. there were always fine pickings."

Dutch looked at his old friend, "No, no, no, no pickpocketing. We are here to make contacts, not money. Not now."

Arthur looked rather surprised as if he thought maybe Dutch was aspiring to be a successful social climber, "What kind of contacts?"

The leader shrugged, "I'm not sure yet, we'll just have to see what we or who we can find there. All I know for sure is that we are going to a party at the mayor's house and the guest of honor is the worst crook in town." That of course, caused the laughter to ensue even stronger.

...

They had arrived finally, the surprisingly pleasant ride there coming to an end. Celina was satisfied that she could finally check off riding a stagecoach from the 1800's off her bucket list. The experience had not at all disappointed her in the slightest.

Although she was still mad enough at Dutch to make her blood boil should he bring up their fight from the other day or say anything at all in reference to it, or look at her wrong, use the wrong tone of voice or possibly breathe wrong, she hooked her arm around his when he offered it to her upon exiting the stagecoach.

She caught Molly starring at her for a moment in obvious jealousy and smiled tightly at her. Message sent, Dutch was hers. They walked up to the gate like that, Molly latching onto Bills arm to the surprise of Bill who looked down at her with a rather uncomfortable expression upon his face. Molly O'Shae was desperate to the point it was hilarious.

Hosea and Arthur stared at Molly from the corner of their eyes with smirks of amusement. Dutch raised his brows in interest as t what was happening and Celina did her best to stifle her laugh. None of them could wipe the smirks fully off their faces even as one of the guards spoke to them upon Dutch handing him his invitation, "Mr. Bronte will be pleased to see you. I believe he is expecting you. You do need to leave the guns here though I'm afraid, we no longer allow them past the gates after the incident last year."

Another man walked up to them and the guard gestured to him, "Luca here will take you to Senor Bronte, do enjoy the party gentlemen, and ladies."

Celina remained at Dutch's side, her arm stroll entwined with his, Arthur and Hosea wallked behind them with Bill and Molly bringing up the rear as they were led by Luca into the extravagant mansion which was the home of the mayor. Luca glanced over guys shoulder at the well dressed group, "This seems to have the makings for a fine night. Now, Bronte and the mayor are every good friends... at least when the mayor behaves himself that is... Bronte is serious about a thing called respect."

Dutch nodded, keeping his free arm behind his back as

Dutch nodded, immediately complying, "Of course." He disarmed himself, the rest of the group following his lead, all sitting their weapons into the create provided for the purpose."

Dutch and Celina followed Luca into the mansion which served as the home of none other than the mayor, their arms still enterwtined with one another's. Hosea and Arthur followed behind them and Bill and Molly behind the two of them, Molly still latched onto Bill's arm like a leach.

Luca looked over his shoulder at the well-dressed group, "This night seems to have the makings of a fine one. Now Bronte and the mayor are very good friends, most of the time anyway... when the mayor is behaving. You see, Bronte has a thing called respect and he expects the same from others... the mayor, sometimes."

Dutch held his free arm behind his back, trying to seem as proper as possible which Celina found downright hilarious. She glanced back at Arthur and Hosea to see amused looks on their faces as well, "Everyone should show and be shown respect. Can't blame him at all for not wanting to keep company with someone who won't show it."

Celina just barely stopped herself from laughing, Dutch was so well and truly full of it. Rubbish, absolute rubbish in the moment at hand. She had to hand it to him though, he was a very convincing man and an even better actor even if the gang could see right through him.

Luca led them up some steps and out to the door that led to the balcony, "If any of you would like to join the party now, please be my guest."

Dutch looked over the group, "All of you get out there and enjoy yourselves, but meet me on the balcony. I'm going to go and thank Mr. Bronte for the invite to this wonderful occasion."

Celina rolled her eyes at his rediculousness but listened nonetheless, letting go of his arm and following the other four out the balcony doors. She finally allowed herself to laugh once they were out of earshot of Luca, "Can you guys believe how full of it he is?"

Hosea laughed with her and shook his head, "I told you, social climbing."

Indeed that seemed to be the truth. She laughed despite herself when Molly finally let go of Bill's arm, earning a glare from the woman a bit older than herself. Celina brushed the look off easily and nodded when Molly announced that she was going to go see if she could find anyone to talk to. Celina's eyes didn't stop boring into the rather uptight woman until she was out of sight. She couldn't help herself not to crack a joke, turning her attention back to the boys with her eyes wide in urgency, "Someone spray Bill down with disinfectant, quick!"

The four of them laughed at the joke, Bill pretending to dust off his arm from where she had ahold of it. Arthur gestured to Celina's dress which she was wearing with a small smile, "Can't say I thought I'd ever see you in one of those."

She rolled her eyes with a smile, "Can't say I ever thought I'd see any of you in a suit... I guess I could have pictured Hosea in one but not you, Bill and Dutch." She laughed.

Arthur shook his head with a bemused smile, "Are we going to go and mingle or just wait for Dutch?"

Celina shrugged, "I'm just going to stay up here. I'm not really much for big crowds and meeting people."

Bill walked to the edge of the balcony and looked around the area, "I don't see Molly down there."

Celina laughed and walked to the railing as well, peering down in search of the red-head herself, "What, are you missing her that quick?"

He shot her a glare, "Shut up."

She laughed, "Are you guys going down there or are you staying up here with me? We can all see that we apparently aren't good enough company for the high and mighty miss O'Shea."

"Well," Arthur laughed, "If I was Molly, I don't think I'd want to stay in the same area as you either. After that beating you gave her months ago that is."

Celina laughed and nodded, "I suppose that's fair."

Hosea just stood there and shook his head, it was weird how quickly the older man had become a father figure to her... She hadn't had a dad before, not really. She loved Hosea as a father, she really did, "I don't think greeting Bronte should take long. No need to go out there only to turn around and come right back."

Celina smiled at him, she couldn't let him die, she didn't know how she would cope in his absence. She had felt an attachment to him in 2018 which was only stronger now. Micah had to go. Micah really, really had to go.

As Hosea suggested, Dutch was back within five minutes and it would have been truly silly to run off to mingle. He looked surprised though to see everyone standing around on the balcony instead of out enjoying the party, "You guys didn't want to start making some friends?"

"We were just waiting on you, Dutch." Hosea answered him, "We were going to meet back up with you here anyway."

Dutch nodded, "That is true." His brow furrowed slightly as he looked at all of them, "Where is miss O'Shea?"

Celina answered in practically a second flat, "I killed her."

Dutch's eyes widened in shock at what she had just said but the other three men laughed, "Celina." She could tell he was trying to hold back laughter himself, "We don't joke about killing our gang members."

Dutch's disapproval sent her into a fit of laughter herself, tears pricking at her eyes as she thought of the initial look on his face, "S-she's down at the party, Dutch. Unfortunately not dead." She looked hopeful, "At least not that I know of."

Dutch shook his head and looked over the balcony in attempt to locate the woman himself before turning back to the group, his voice quiet, "Ok, here's the deal, Bill, Celina, you go and make us some friends. Arthur, you see what you can find out about the mayor. Hosea, start trying to find us a place to rob... as for me, I have some business to attend with Bronte."

Celina rolled her eyes, "Of course, Bronte, Bronte, Bronte."

Dutch shot her a stern look but he was in too good of a mood to actually be intimidating. His eyes held the sparke they got whenever he was excited about something, "Get on out there. Use that charm and less off that sass."

Celina laughed and made her way down the steps behind Bill, maybe the night would be enjoyable after all. She was actually happy she had decided to go, her annoyance with her man fading a little more.

"Ok," Bill looked over at her once they reached the ground, "You go mingle with them over there." He pointed towards the right side of the crowd, "I'll take the area over here."

Celina nodded, "Sounds good." She then parted ways with the brute of an outlaw and made her way over to the right side of the party. She accepted a glass of champagne from a waiter, sipping on it as she walked about the area, scoping for someone she thought she could easily make conversation with.

...

The night had been going smoothly up to the point that it was at at the moment. She hadn't really picked conversation with anyone important unfortunately and she would have much rather been enjoying the evening with the boys. Still, she wasn't exactly complaining, it had been nice to get out for a bit. That was the key word, had been nice... She had been enjoying herself..

Until she looked over at Dutch, the sight before her making her heart sink. She don't know how her eyes landed on him amongst everyone else in the crowd he was a distance away. Still, the man she was looking at was unmistakably Dutch. She felt sick, why did she have to have her gaze gravitate towards him in that very moment?

He stood there, talking to Angelo Bronte up on the balcony with Molly O'Shea. It looked as if she were hanging onto his arm but she couldn't be sure considering the distance. She was sure of what she saw though when Angelo turned his back on them for a moment, a kiss shared between Dutch and Molly. It wasn't Molly spontaneously laying one on him, but a shared kiss. From the fact that she had successfully locked her gaze on them, she could tell. It was a moment before they pulled away from one another and Angelo seemed to turn his attention back to them.

She felt as if she couldn't move, it was hard to breathe... almost hard for her legs to support her. She felt as if the weight of the world was falling onto her shoulders and the walls were closing in on her. She couldn't break her gaze away from Dutch and finally it looked like he noticed her starring at him.

He confirmed this when he looked to be dismissing himself from Angelo Bronte and she watched as he headed for the stairs, not paying attention to Molly who was now starting her down. Celina swallowed, Dutch was coming to talk to her, of course he was coming to talk to her. She had to get out of there and fast. Quickly, she looked around for a means of escape. She needed to leave now and then.

She began excusing her way through the crowd in the direction of the way out, pausing at the sound of Bill's voice, "Are you ok?" He must have picked up on the fact that she obviously wasn't, everything in her body felt as it it were throbbing from the stress and heartache which had just been laid on her. He sounded confused, but just as concerned.

She mustered the courage to turn around and face him, the floodgates trying to break, a few tears forcing their way down her cheek, "No," she could barely talk in her current state, "I'm not ok, Bill." She swallowed, her hands shaking, "D-Dutch... Dutch just-"

He placed a large hand on her back and helped to guide her away from the crowd of the party, "Dutch did something? What did he do?"

She shook her head, trying to find the voice to tell him, "I- I just saw h-h- him kissing M- molly."

The outlaws eyes widened at her words, "Oh, shit."

If the woman wouldn't have been in such a distraught state, Bill's reaction would have been funny. No, the look on his face would have been downright hilarious, funny didn't even cut it. She was distraught though, thinking back over their entire but admittedly so far short relationship. He hadn't been using her for information, had he? No... surely he hadn't been. He just, obviously didn't know what he wanted. She wasn't the elegant uptight city girl that the wonderful miss O'Shea was and she wouldn't ever try to be.

Dutch didn't know what he wanted.. and, or, he didn't care about how she felt. She sniffled, what went around sure did come around. She was an idiot thinking it was a good idea to take Dutch from Molly and now she was paying for it. He preached loyalty and apparently his loyalty did not lie with her. He apparently didn't think she was good enough for him... well maybe it was he who wasn't good enough for her.

Bill remained quiet for a moment, "Is there... something I can do?"

She raised her hand and wiped at her eyes, "I don't think so, Bill. Thank you but I'm just going to get out of here."

"Well," he drawed, standing there rather awkwardly, "You can't be going alone with it getting dark out. I'll walk to you a motel or something."

She sniffled again, truly trying not to fully break down in front of him, she wasn't sure how long she could hold in her urge to cry herself to sleep, "You don't have to do that, I don't want to ruin the party for you."

Bill scoffed and led her towards the exit. Luckily, it seemed Dutch must have lost them in the crowd, "Do I really seem like the kind of man who would enjoy something like this?"

She shook her head with a small smile, "I suppose not."

"Ok then, let's get you out of here."

They left the party without incident, heading down the streets of Saint Denis as the sky was gradually getting darker and darker. Every once in a while Celina would look over at Bill who walked alongside her in silence. She had never thought him to be one to act so caring but there he was, afraid to let her leave alone.

Most of the walk had been silent, almost awkward silence but neither one of them really knew what to say to the other. Even if she had something to talk about, Celina was sure she wouldn't feel like it... not with what she had just witnessed. She did ask him one thing though as the motel came into sight, "Did you know about them?"

Bill looked confused for a second but then shook his head, "Dutch and Molly? No, I thought they was done."

Celina nodded and licked her lips quickly, "I can walk from here, I'll be fine."

He shook his head, "I'm not taking any risks, a man see a woman out here alone like you- I'll see you checked in and to your room."

She laughed lightly, touched by his behavior, "Well, Bill Williamson, you do have a heart."

He rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Shut up."

The two of them finally made their way into the motel and up to the front desk, Bill taking the lead, "This young woman needs a room for one please."

The man behind the counter nodded, "Of course, sir." He then addressed Celina, "What is your name, miss?"

"Celina." Celina looked up at him, "Celina Knoll."

"Ok," He made some notes for himself after looking over the paper on his clipboard, "That will be ten dollars and room 1C."

Celina nodded and took out the money she owed before handing it to him and seeing her name written on the chart of occupants, "Thank you sir." She turned away from the man and back to Bill, "You really think it's necessary to escort me to my room?"

Bill nodded, "I sure do." He gestured to the steps which Celina walked up at his cue and he followed close behind to the door which she would be sleeping behind for the night, "How long are you going to stay?"

Celina shrugged, "I don't know, until I'm ready to sleep back at camp again, I guess." She took a deep breath, "I'm not leaving the gang, Bill. Just Dutch. I'll be around, I promise."

He nodded with a deep breath of his own, "I'm sure Dutch wasn't thinking.."

She shrugged again, "I really don't care if he was thinking or not. I'm done, Bill. Micah's done gotten into his head."

Bill looked surprised, "Micah?"

Celina nodded, "Yes, just watch the two of them. Dutch's changes? They all started after Micah became a part of the gang. Did they not?"

Bill nodded, "I suppose they did."

She took a deep breath, "You think about it and tell me how you feel. For right now, please let Arthur and Hosea know where I am. I don't want them worrying about me."

"Ok," He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, "I'll tell them, look out for yourself."

She offered a small, sad smile, "You too." Then, with nothing more to say, she went into her room, locking the door behind her.

...

A/N: This chapter absolutely takes the cake for being the longest at about 4.4k words. A lot of writing on my part today, that's for sure but I really wanted to cover the whole party in one chapter. So, Celina has finally left Dutch and I really practically broke my own heart writing this chapter lol. It sucked, hope all of you liked it though for what it is.

I just had to include that sweet moment with Bill, I really do think the guy has a good heart and wanted everyone to see that.

So, what did everyone think about this chapter? I feel like there will be quite a few comments and I'm excited to read them. What do you think will come next/ what would you like to see come next?

She's kinda told Bill to be careful about trusting Micah but didn't truly reveal anything to him about the potential future. She can't go around telling everyone about it. However, I do feel like she needs to get either Bill or Javier on her side to be able to carry out her plan for Micah.

Who do you think will come around for her, or will both of them?

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	32. Chapter 32

"So, you're telling me that you just escorted her out of the party and sent her on her way?!" Dutch was mad, no... Dutch was infuriated. Needless to say, the stagecoach ride back from the party was not going as well as the ride there.

Bill sat across from Dutch, Arthur and Hosea on the same side as Dutch and Molly beside Bill. Bill nodded, sticking up for himself, "That's just what I did! Saw her to her motel room."

Dutch scoffed and shook his head, throwing his top hat to the floor, "So you just let her leave, just like that?"

Bill didn't show any sign of caring about Dutch's current temper, "I wasn't about to make her stick around or run off alone when she had just witnessed her boyfriend being unfaithful."

Molly for once was keeping her trap shut, seeming to actually have nothing worth saying but just observing the argument unfolding amongst the four men. It was pathetic she thought, that all of them would sit there arguing over Celina Knoll and that that woman had actually gotten Bill to talk back to Dutch.

Hosea and Arthur looked shocked at the revelation of this new information which they were previously unknowing of. Hosea looked at Dutch in disbelief as did Arthur. Hosea, however, was the one to say something, "You did what?"

Dutch opened his mouth and then closed it again, trying desperately to think of something to say. Arthur wasn't willing to wait for him to come up with an excuse for his behavior, "So you're telling me, Celina finally starts to forgive you for accusing her of being a traitor and then you go and kiss- of all people," he pointed at Molly, "Her?"

Dutch threw his hands in the air defensively, "This falls back on you, Arthur. If you and Celina hadn't ever tried sneaking around behind my back, this whole situation never would have happened."

"What?" Arthur's face screwed up at the audacity of Dutch's newest accusation, "Celina and I were never sneaking around behind your back, Dutch."

"That's exactly what you would say if it were true. I heard things, Arthur."

Hosea held his hand up to stop the argument, "Hold on, Dutch. Who exactly told you this?"

Dutch shrugged, "Doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does, Dutch. Who was it, was it Micah?" Bill stared at him as he waited for an answer but Dutch gave him none. The largest man shook his head, "No wonder Celina is gone."

The leaders face contorted in anger, "Where is she?"

...

Celina slowly opened her eyes as the light of the sun invaded the room through the window. Her eyes fixated on the Celina as she laid in bed on her back and her thoughts immediately floated back to the night before. She was in a motel room in Saint Denis alone due to Dutch and his impeccable ability to make bad decisions. The pang of heartache wasted no time in hitting her once again. He had kissed her, he had kissed Molly O'Shae.

The young woman shook her head as she tried to push the thoughts aside. She was of course unsuccessful, how long had whatever they were doing been going on? Had it ever truly stopped? Had they gotten close again after Micah lied to Dutch about her? Was it just a kiss... or had they?... Why, why? Why?!

She forced herself to get out of bed and smoothed down the rumpled blue dress which she had worn and unfortunately slept in the night before. She knew that her appearance couldn't be too attractive at the moment, but she could do no better than trying to force out the wrinkles, combing her hair with her fingers and rubbing the sleep crud from her eyes.

If she was really going to do this, live away from Dutch that was, she needed to hit up some of the stores and by herself some much needed items. She stood in the middle of the room for a minute, hardly able to believe herself. How on God's green earth was she ever going to make it on her own in 1899?

She had to try, she at least had to try. She would still go robbing with the boys for her income, that was a given. As she told Bill the night before, she was still part of the gang, just... not staying at camp. It was the doing life part, living alone that got her. Sure, she had had her own apartment before, but then again, that was of course 2018...

She slipped on her shoes and made her way out the door. After she bought what she needed and got cleaned up, she was going to the bar and getting as drunk as possible. That was a given. She was certainly not going to think about Dutch Van Der Linde all day long.

Making her way down the steps and back to the main lobby, Celina approached the man behind the desk seeing he was someone different than the night before. Still with a rather groggy state of mind, she spoke with him and extended her stay in the room for another night before finally leaving to hit the town.

Now Celina wasn't ever a fan of the city, not in 2018 and definately not now but she did recognize it had its perks with the close together stores at least. She purchased a couple of outfits first and then her necessary hygiene items before heading back to the motel.

She had gotten dressed into a gunslinger outfit, no hat. And brushed her teeth before heading back out into the city. The bar, that was what she desired to locate more than anything so she once again set out to do just that.

Saint Denis was packed with people bustling to and from places of business, people riding their horses down the street. There were beggars on more corners than not. Of course with civilization came beggars. The only ones she felt bad for? The ones who truly couldn't earn money for themselves.

Finally, she reached the bar, really wishing that her horse had been there with her for quicker transportation. She entered the bar through the business professional door which matched every other building in the city. She looked around to see that hardly anyone was there yet, it being only around ten o'clock in the morning. She was going to draw attention to herself, drinking at such an early time.

Frankly, she didn't care. She sat down at one of the barstools, immediately grabbing the attention of the bar tender, "Whisky please."

He poured her a glass, "That'll be a dollar."

She paid him as she took the glass and raised it to her lips, savoring the taste of the whisky before swallowing it. She looked over her shoulder when she heard someone else enter the bar after her third whisky and smiled when she saw that it was none other than Josiah Trelawny, "Well miss Celina! I certainly didn't expect to see you here." He walked over to her and seated himself on the stool to her right, "What are you doing here at such an early hour?"

Celina shrugged and raised the glass of whisky to her lips again, taking another drink, "Coping. I could ask the same of you?"

He raised a brow in intrest, "I have some business matters to attend, and am currently waiting on a friend."

"Hmm," Celina looked around the bar, "Considering the friend isn't here, I'll be your friend until they arrive, what're you drinking?"

"Oh, not drinking my dear. Only waiting, I have to have my composure about me in my line of work."

Celina laughed and nodded before waving the bar tender over again and this time requesting a beer, "Well luckily for me, I do not have a reason to keep my composure."

"Indeed, indeed. So, what is it exactly that you're coping with?" He requested a water from the bartender for himself.

She groaned as she thought back to the night before, "Dutch being Dutch and worse."

"And worse?" He took a sip of his water. How was it that the man did everything with such class? He swallowed, "I've got to say, you have officially captured my attention."

She took a long swig of her beer, not truly wanting to sit it down, "Well, I'm glad to hear I have someone's attention... until the extravagant Molly O'Shae comes along anyway."

He quit swirling around the water in his glass and sat the glass on the table, "Oh, you've got to give me the details."

"Well..." She started, explaining her relationship with Dutch leaving out the fact that she had seen what the future could hold. She told him all of the other important details up to the point where Micah accused her of going against Dutch regarding the Braithwaites and Grays. She explained the argument, altering it slightly to hide the fact she was from the future. Then, she got to the part where she had given into attending the party, "At first I didn't want to go to the party. Turns out that it's a good thing I did." She took another swig of her second beer, "Everything was going pretty good, I was actually sitting Dutch's previous rediculousness aside and having a good time with him. Bill and I went out into the crowd to make some... useful friends, and eventually, I looked up to the balcony. And, well," she drummed her fingers on the bar, "I saw Dutch and Molly kissing. So, I left. Bill brought me here."

Trelawny was quiet for a moment before speaking, "Now it is clear why you have had so much to drink."

Celina laughed and shrugged, "Hey, you asked." She went to stand up only for the room to start spinning around her at the movement.

Trelawny reached out hurriedly and caught her, keeping her from falling, "You just stay there, dear, and drink some water." He looked over at the door as another man came in, "That is my friend, I won't be long."

Trelawny got up from his own seat and made his way over to the man who had just entered the bar, sitting down at the table by the door with him and immediately engaging in what appeared to be a friendly and business like conversation.

Celina sighed and ordered herself a water as she had been instructed to do so by the magician. She was getting drunk but not as drunk as she hoped to be due to Trelawny's intrusion on her alone time. She didn't mind if she were being honest, it was probably a good thing she had been stopped from drinking herself out of her mind. Who knows what she would have done.

After downing the first glass of water, she made the decision to have another one. The cool liquid relaxed her as she glanced over to where Trelawny sat with his friend, she thought she heard something about gold mining and rolled her eyes. Was this meeting really about running another gold mining scam?

As he had said, the meeting between the two of them did not take long and his friend was heading back out the door. Trelawny immediately came back to her side, seeing that she had a nearly empty glass of water sitting in front of her. He dipped his head in approval, "Now where are you staying?"

"The motel in town, where else?"

Trelawny smiled, "I only wanted to ensure you had a roof over your head, my dear. Now, I have a proposition for you."

She stood up from the stool and followed him as he walked back across the bar and out the door, "What kind of proposition?"

"Well, you see, you and I, I do believe we could make quite a lot of money together." He gestured to her gloved hands, more specifically her right one, "And I believe whatever kind of 'scar' you have there could help to attract some attention."

She looked down at her hand, really hating herself in that moment for ever getting tattoos. It seemed her secret wouldn't last long in the company of Josiah. She shook her head, "I don't know."

"Well why not?"

"It's, it's." She looked at the ground sheepishly, of course he knew that it wasn't really a scar, that much was obvious, "I just don't want people seeing it." There was no way he could have known that her tattoos would prove that she was from the future, so his request was rather innocent.

As he had when they robbed that stagecoach together, he let her reluctance slide, "We could still make money in other ways, my dear. If you give me a few hours I'll have a wide variety of propositions for you."

She smiled, she knew that was true, "I'm sure you will."

"So," he gestured to her, engaging in an entirely different topic of conversation, "You told Dutch to take Micah's dick out of his mouth."

She laughed, in Trelawny's British accent, what she said sounded even better, "Well yea. You've known them long enough to see the difference in Dutch. So do you not agree that Micah seems to be the problem?"

"I do not not agree. I've never trusted Micah, always... bothered me, despite not having been around him much myself. That said, I also believe the problem may be dear ole Dutch."

"Dutch himself?"

"Oh yes indeed, Dutch has... been changing slowly for a couple years now if you ask me. Just now is it becoming truly noticeable... you know, Dutch is a dear friend of mine but he has led those boys down a path so far from redemption."

Celina swallowed, "You think so?"

"Certainly," he nodded, "Not intentionally, however. His beliefs are solid ones, ones I generally agree with myself. However, he knows that the one the law truly wants is himself and the bounties on those boys heads grow larger and larger through the things they do out of loyalty to him."

Celina felt a bit confused by what he was saying, "So what are you trying to say?" She had always thought of Trelawny to be someone who was for himself when it came down to it but it seemed that he was disappointed in Dutch for making similar decisions.

Trelawny sighed, "I'm not quite sure, it just seems that lately, he's been more reckless with the boys in attempt to protect himself and it's getting rather sad. Like I said, the change has been slow and I know it's unintentional, he loves them, but.."

She had to ask, couldn't help it, "So you're saying you wouldn't do the same."

He tilted his head slightly in thought, "That's not something I can honestly answer at this point. I would hope there would be a line which I would not cross."

Celina nodded at his answer, at least he was being honest about it, "So you don't think it's all Micah's fault?"

"A good part, but he can't totally change Dutch's personality, I'm afraid." His voice sounded truly sorrowful, "I'm not calling Dutch old, he's only a couple years older than myself... however, he has been in this life he's living for a good while. I fear that it may finally be starting to wear on him."

Celina swallowed once again, she had been so comfortable in blaming everything on Micah but hearing Trelawny's take on it made her wonder if maybe the magician was in fact right, "Thank you."

He looked over at her a bit surprised, "What ever are you thinking me for?"

She gave a small smile, "For the talk."

"Oh dear, talking is only one talent of mine. What do you say we enjoy the day we've been presented with and put everything as long ago as yesterday aside?"

She nodded, the idea of doing such a thing appealing to her greatly. Hopefully he would be able to keep her mind occupied well enough to keep her from thinking of Dutch.

...

Dutch had spent all morning storming around the camp, hardly talking to anyone and when he did say something, it was snappy and short. He was far more upset and pissed off than he had been in a good while. He could not believe Bill Williamson for escorting Celina off like she was his to give away nor Arthur and Hosea for siding with him and failing to see what was so wrong about what Bill had done. He should have known better than to just let her go without his permission. Where was the loyalty in that?

His face contorted in anger right before he slammed his fist down and into the table. Hosea looked up at him from where he sat at the table, "You need to get ahold of yourself and calm down son."

Dutch shot him a look that could have hurt him if a look could do that, "I'm not going to calm down, Hosea. She. Left. Me."

The older man stood up and shook his head in disapproval. He gestured to Dutch pointedly, "And this is why she left you. This behavior, Dutch. It's rediculous. You are the one who drove her away and you're going to have to deal with it. She has been gone for less than twenty four hours, she may come back."

The leader tipped his head up to the ceiling, "I don't like this, Hosea."

Arthur spoke up from where he leaned against the doorway, "She just needs time, that's all."

"How can you possibly know that?" Dutch looked over at Arthur, his face red with anger not at the one he thought of as his son, but at the entire situation, "Have you talked to her?"

Arthur shook his head, he wouldn't even reveal to Dutch where Bill had told him and Hosea where the girl was currently staying. The last thing she needed was Dutch storming over to her motel in Saint Denis and breaking through her door, "No, I haven't talked to her."

Javier walked into the room rather cautiously upon having heard Dutch yelling, "What's going on in here?"

"Celina's gone, that's what's wrong." Dutch's answer practically came out in a growl. Hosea eyed him uneasily from where he remained unmoved from his chair.

Javier's eyes widened as he had been out late the night before and hadn't been home to witness Dutch's rage when he had returned home right after the party, "Bill told me that she left because of what happened at the ball."

Arthur gave the Mexican a warning look, hoping that his statement wouldn't add fuel to the partly Scottish man's fire. It seemed it was too late though, "So, I'm taking it Bill's just out there telling everyone what happened now. He sure as hell won't tell me where he dropped her off."

"Well," Javier scratched his head uncomfortably, "I don't know who all he told. I would think she'd be at a motel in Saint Denis since Bill took her there, would have to be close."

Dutch eyed Javier with a look of temporary hatred for the world, "You really think I didn't check that? I went there this morning and no one by her name is checked into the motel there. She must have someone she's staying with over there."

Hosea tucked his lips into his mouth, upon Bill telling him where he had dropped her off at, he had went down there himself and paid them to keep from releasing to anyone that she was there. He hadn't tried to find her himself though, knowing that the woman probably wanted time to herself, "How I see it, Dutch, it's probably better that you don't know where she is."

Dutch shook his head again, pounding on the table once more although less forcefully, "I need to know where she is. I need to know that she's safe."

Javier sucked in his cheeks, looking from Arthur to Hosea to Bill who was just walking in with John, Sadie close behind them. All of them must have heard Dutch carrying on the way he was. Bill butted his way into the conversation, "She is fine, Dutch. I wouldn't have sent her off into harms way."

Micah came down the steps half way, leaning over the railing of the stairs, "Who's side are you all on anyway? Dutch, it sounds like your gang is more loyal to Celina than to you. Why don't you all show the man some respect, we all make mistakes."

Everyone fixated their attention on Micah for a moment before looking back to Dutch to see his reaction. Dutch simply nodded and looked up to meet Micah's deceitful gaze, "Yes, that is true. We all make mistakes."

Arthur made eye contact with Hosea, conveying thoughts of uneasiness to one another without a shared word, "So." Arthur looked back at Dutch, "Is the mistake breaking Celina's heart to the point she left? Or is the mistake on Celina's part for leaving?"

Sadie walked up to Arthur and grabbed his arm lightly before leading him away from the group. The tension was too high and it was clear that Dutch was getting close to snapping under all the pressure everyone was laying on him. Arthur addressed everyone else in the room, "Common, let's clear out, give Dutch some time to breathe. This isn't our issue anyway."

Bill grumbled under his breath as he was the first to follow Arthur out, "It is when he goes around acting like he has today."

Sadie looked over her shoulder at the boys to see everyone else following except dear Hosea, "What do you boys think?" Her question was addressed to Arthur and Bill.

Arthur shook his head, "Nothing good."

...

"No," Celina smiled at Josiah as they walked the streets of Saint Denis together enjoying the rather nice weather, "You really want me to do that?"

Josiah clasped his hands behind his back and nodded, "I could very well use an assistant on stage. What is a magician without an assistant?"

She just about beamed despite her broken heart, "I mean, I could. I've never really been on stage before.. Big crowds make me nervous."

"Well, you think about it. If you really are done sleeping in the dirt with our dear friends, might as well enjoy being away from them, am I right?"

She darted her tongue over her lips. He was right, sleeping apart from the gang didn't have to be a negative thing. She might as well make the best of the times which she wasn't in their company, "Ok, I'll think about it. I mean, there would have to be a whole lot for you to teach be but hopefully I could exchange my gun at times for a rabbit."

Trelawny laughed and placed his hand on her shoulder, "I can assure you miss Knoll, you will greatly enjoy the joys of magic."

She raised a brow, "Isn't it all just a trick though? Nothing real, right?"

"Oh no, absolutely a trick... until the conjuring begins."

She bit down on the inside of her bottom lip lightly and shook her head, "Now the conjuring thing, that would freak me out."

"Well, being honest with you, that's not really either, my dear."

Celina laughed, "Is anything you do real?"

He nodded, "Plenty enough." He gestured to the theatre as they came upon it, "What would you say to a movie?"

She looked up at the title of the movie hanging over the theatres entrance which read 'The Woman' and nodded, "We can give it a try." Really, she didn't understand what could been so entertaining about an animation which would last only a few minutes. Then again, it was 1899 and the entertainment was limited. She sure would miss her action movies despite having enough action in her life already.

The movie as she thought it would be was boring but she greatly appreciated Trelawny having paid for her ticket and keeping her company. She looked over at him when the credits started rolling and smiled. It was sweet, him having set aside his day to spend with her and try to cheer her up. She knew that was what he was doing, it was obvious and it wasn't like he knew that this would be nothing compared to the action movies she was so used to.

It was around three in the afternoon when they made their way out of the theatre, Celina pointing back in the direction of the bar, "Are you sure you don't want to go get plastered with me? It could be fun."

Trelawny waved off the bar in rejection, "Not now, but there is one other thing that I would like to do now, the weather is well enough." Josiah liked to drink, sometimes, but nothing like the rest of the boys. He looked over at the petite woman who walked by his side. He couldn't believe Dutch put her through what he had, to think of doing such a thing was ridiculous and he hated to think of Celina as being so hurt by him that she had nothing better to do than to drink, "Have you ever flown?"

Of course she immediately knew what he was talking about, "You mean in a hot air balloon?"

"Oh yes, I know just the man to get us up high above the clouds." He lowered his voice and leaned into her a bit as if telling her some secret, "Now, women aren't typically allowed to fly, but we'll see what I can't do for us."

She ran her fingers through her dark hair as she followed him in the direction of the balloons, this would be interesting, seeing Josiah Trelawny at work, using his gift with words to talk someone into bending the rules of their job.

...

A/N: So, Celina's first day away is interesting so far with Trelawny keeping her company and away from the bottle. Dutch is incredibly pissed towards everything and everyone except himself and no likes Micah's comment about everyone making mistakes...

Thoughts? Comments? Predictions? I would love to hear them all as usual and I do try to reply whenever possible.

What are you guys thinking regarding her and Trelawny's day together so far? I feel like they have a pretty well balanced dynamic myself, like writing their interactions for sure.

What do all of you think about Dutch's behavior as well? He's definately not handing Celina leaving him too well. He deserves it though in my opinion... what do you think?

Next chapter will cover Celina's first ever hot air balloon ride and who better to do that with for the first time than Trelawny? If Celina gets her way and he goes out drinking with her, that sure will be interesting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	33. Chapter 33

Just as promised, Trelawny managed to talk the hot air balloon operator into allowing Celina into the great balloons basket much to her delight. Josiah climbed into the basket first before turning around and offering her his hand as she boarded it herself- she had gratefully accepted.

"Ok, now operating this balloon is easy," The operator spoke to them, successfully gaining their attention, "You just pull that lever long and frequently enough to keep the balloon at the desired altitude." He gave a short tug to demonstrate, lifting the balloon off the ground a bit, "Mr. Trelawny, is it? Would you like to give it a try?"

Josiah perked up some at the offer and nodded, "Certainly good sir, certainly." He moved into position and reached up, giving the lever a good tug and lifting them ever higher.

The operator smiled, "Good, I'll tell you when we're at the best height."

Trelawny looked over at Celina, "Would you like to try, my dear?"

The operator quickly spoke before Celina had a chance to respond, "We really must not have a woman in control of this beast, sir. As I said, surely she will be getting light headed soon enough."

Celina rolled her eyes with a small smile, this type of treatment would be everywhere with the current year, she was sure. It was all about a matter of getting used to it. Sure was different, "It's alright, I'm enjoying just taking in the view anyway. That was the truth if nothing else. The higher they ascended, the more land she could see across, it was truly beautiful and she wondered if they went high enough if she would be able to peer down at the camp.

The operator spoke again, "So, how long have you two been an item?"

Celina's eyes widened at the question and she looked at Josiah, her shock ever so obvious, "We're not together like that. She shook her head, just having a fun day on the town away from the rest of our friends."

The man nodded, "Well in that case I am sorry for the question."

Josiah shook his head and tugged on the lever again, "It is quite alright my friend."

It wasn't until they were quite a bit higher in the sky that the conductor ordered the ballon stay at the height they were currently at with the winds being the strongest at that point. Celina was still enjoying herself although it made her feel a bit uncomfortable to just be blown around by the wind, thousands of feet in the air in a balloon which could certainly rip.

And then the flock of birds came, "Hurry, decend, decend," the conductor ordered.

The look on Trelawny's face was nearly priceless as he immediately let to of the lever, "Goodness, will it ever sink enough?"

Celina watched the flock of birds with wide eyes as they came nearer, the animals weren't paying attention, that was it... her fear was going to come true. The balloon was going to crash and they were all going to fall to their untimely deaths.

"Oh heavens, we are indeed cutting this close." Trelawny couldn't break his gaze from the flock himself, "Do we not have any emergency means of escape?"

The conductor shook his head, "I am afraid we do not."

The magician shot her a worried look, "I must say, miss Knoll, if we live through this, I do believe I will be heading to the bar with you."

Celina nodded in agreement, "That would be much appreciated." Luckily, the birds cleared right over the balloon, none of them making any noticeable contact with it. It wasn't until the last bird passed by though that Celina really felt as if she could breathe again. She did so at that point, inhaling deeply, "So," she smirked at Josiah, "what about the bar?"

"Oh yes," he nodded, allowing the conductor to take over in controlling the balloon, "We will be going to the bar tonight."

...

The balloon ride lasted a little while longer, Trelawny no longer interested in operating it. Finally, after the balloon landing, the three of them once again had their feet on the ground and it was mutually agreed that the earth had never felt sweeter.

Josiah turned to the man who had taken them on their most recent adventure and bowed dramatically in goodbye, "Thank you, good sir. You be well now."

The man waved goodbye to them and Trelawny and Celina set off in the direction of the bar, it only now nearing five in the afternoon. Trelawny looked over at the woman who was so eager to once again get to drinking, "It's still so early in the day dear, are you sure you want to go now?"

Celina smiled at his question, "I'm starting to think you have a problem with day drinking."

His eyebrows rose, "Oh no, not at all darling. We can do whatever you like."

...

So, needless to say, they did exactly what Celina wanted to do and entered the bar, sitting down in stools next to one another. Celina slammed her hands down on the bar getting the bartenders attention who was busier than he had been earlier in the day, "Oh, the two of you are back!"

Celina nodded, "Start us off with two beers please... each."

"As you wish." The bartender slid two beers to both Celina and Trelawny, Celina cracking open her first one immediately and taking a drink of the cold liquid.

Josiah eyed her as he took a drink of his and she laughed at the look on his face, "What is it?"

He shook his head and swallowed, "Nothing, my dear."

Celina shrugged and guzzled down the rest of the first beer, Trelawny's gaze still drifting over to her more often than not, it was rather rare to see a woman such as she, one who didn't seem to care in the slightest what a woman was supposed to be like under the eyes of society. She dressed just like the boys of the gang in a very slightly more feminine way. He couldn't phantom the image of her in a dress and although he'd like to, how she was just the way she was without worry of what others thought simply captivated him. He downed the rest of his first beer before starting on the next.

"So," he started, "What was your life like before Dutch and the gang?"

Celina shrugged, her mind flashing back to her friends in 2018. She did miss them at times, they were good to her but she really wasn't certain she would go back even if she had all the chances in the world, "It was... nothing special. Typical really."

He sat his beer down, "And what is typical in this world, truly?"

Celina took another drink, "You know, wake up, work, eat, sleep, repeat."

Trelawny smiled, there was something different about the woman beside him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it and if he was being truthful, it perplexed him greatly, "So no lover?"

"Nope," she popped the p, "Not for a good few years until dear Dutch."

"Hmm..." the magician took another drink, a thoughtful one, "What made you leave your life behind for what he had to offer?"

Celina tapped on the bar rather antsy to change the subject, "I just wasn't happy. What about you? Tell me about yourself."

Trelawny sighed, "Well, wherever shall I begin? I immigrated here from Britan many years ago, a wonderful choice on my part... expecially since I had made rather a name for myself over there."

It was Celina's turn to look over at him with interest, "A name for yourself? From conning people?"

He nodded, "A few too many people and the wrong ones at that. No family here, aside from the boys of course."

"Of course." It seemed to Celina that Trelawny was almost as reluctant to reveal information about himself as she was to reveal information about herself. What had she really expected though? Josiah Trelawny was a puzzle, a true mystery, nonetheless, one she would like to find out more about.

They drank together to the point that they were so drunk it was really quite hilarious. Both of them were slurring their words, Celina finding humor in the slightest of things. Trelawny's typically well-kept hair was deliciously disheveled and his the first couple buttons of his suit undone. Celina eyed him misceviously, before waving down the bartender again and nearly falling out of her seat doing so, "Two more beers please."

The bar tender gave the duo a good look over and shook his head, "No, the two of you have had enough. You're going to get yourselves into some trouble if you drink any more."

"But trouble is what we're after ssirrrr." Trelawny attempted to comb his hair back into place with his fingers but it was no use, falling back into his face.

The man behind the counter still shook his head although with an amused smile on his face, "I will give you no more. I do think you should sleep your drunken stupor off, however. Why don't you take one of the rooms upstairs for the night?"

Celina laughed, "You're sending us to bed."

"Yes," the bartender laughed as well, "We'll talk expenses in the morning before you leave but the first room on the left is available."

Celina's eyes widened, "On the left? I want the one on the right because we are alright."

The bartender chuckled and handed a key to Trelawny, "This is to the one on the left."

The conman nodded taking the key and struggling to focus on the object in his hand, "I will try not to have it disappear." This comment earned a strange look from the bartender but he did not comment. Instead, he silently watched as the two drunks staggered to their feet and just barely made it across the bar and up the steps, trying to lean on one another for support much to the amusement of everyone watching.

"The one on the left." Trelawny staggered to the door and unlocked it before making his way inside, Celina following and kicking the door shut behind herself, "I am quite hot." Josiah went to shrug off his suit and ended up losing his balance and plopping down on the bed.

Celina, in her drunken state couldn't seem to think of anything but the sexy way his hair fell into his face in a curl or his slender likely toned body, his accent though slurred, sounded even more delightful in her own drunken state. She made her way across the room and attempted to assist him in removing his suit.

That didn't go as planned.

Due to the close proximity upon her trying to help him, neither one of them resisted the temptation to crash their lips onto one another's. The kiss quickly turned heated, hungry. The last thing on Celina's mind was Dutch Van Der Linde as Trelawny's tongue invaded her mouth making her moan in delight as she invaded his mouth with her own.

She forcefully pushed his suit off as she climbed on top of him, still entrapped in their kiss and pinning him against the bed. Josiah managed to roll the two of them over so he was on top, kissing along her jawline and to her ear, suckling and licking at her and in her right ear, making her hips buck voilently and demandingly against his and her hand pushing down on the back of his neck to keep him from stopping.

She breathed heavily and shakily, being overcome by the lust she felt to the man above her, "J- Josiah.." She could hardly process a word let alone a thought as he continued his assult on her ear. She was overwhelmed, powerless to her desire for him, "Please, I need you."

Her eyes widened and breathing quickened as he moved his lips away from her ear and began kissing down her neck as he unbuttoned her shirt and she lifted up to squirm out of it, chucking it to the floor as if it had personally insulted her.

Trelawny's lips continued to trail down her chest, his left hand cupping her left breast and mouth attatching to her right one, sucking on and licking at her nipple to the point she was nearly screaming with pleasure. He sent a drunken, lustful smile up to her before continuing to trail his lips down her body.

...

"Do what you want, Arthur. If she doesn't want to be here with us, I personally would not be interested in checking on her. If you want though, go. You apparently seem to know where she is." Dutch sat on the front porch of the house, smoking a cigar, Molly O'Shea sitting at his side.

Arthur shook his head, he wanted to say something to Dutch about his sudden carelessness towards Celina but what was there to say? He looked over at Molly who looked perfectly content and proud of herself to be once again sitting at the side of the notorious leader. He opened his mouth for a second and then closed it before opening it again, "You really need to get your priorities straight, Dutch. That girl, she loves you."

Molly placed her hand on Dutch's knee rather possessively, "I love Dutch as well and I'm willing to accept his decisions as they are." Her voice grated on Arthur's nerves, "Celina was trying to take the gang away from him, can't you see that?"

Arthur stared her down for a moment, he didn't like that coming out of her mouth, not one bit, "No, I can't see that." He said nothing more but made his way down the steps and to Hosea, "Are you ready to go?"

Hosea nodded, tightening the girth of his horses saddle, "Whenever you are. The atmosphere here is overbearing."

John ran up to the two of them upon seeing them mount their horses along with Javier. John was the one who spoke first, "Are you guys going to see Celina?"

Hosea nodded, "We are, are you coming along?"

John nodded before going to his own horse, "Yea, I'd like to check on her, poor girl. I can't believe Dutch."

Arthur laughed humorlessly, "Neither can I."

Javier butted in, "I don't know her too well but I'm coming with, I need to get out, do something."

Arthur raised his hands in sarcasm, "Why don't we pack up the whole gang and barge into town to check on her?"

...

They had not, indeed taken the entire gang into Saint Denis to check on Celina. It remained only the four of them, Arthur, John, Hosea and Javier who rode into the city that morning. Javier looked over at Arthur who was in the lead, "So just the motel then?"

Arthur nodded, "That's the last place I know her to be staying at."

John, Hosea and Javier all waited outside the motel as Arthur went in and came back out a few minutes later, "She rented a room for last night but she's not there."

John looked worried, "Surely she should be around here somewhere, right? She wouldn't have rented the room and skipped town."

Arthur shook his head and climbed back into his horse, "I wouldn't think she would do something like that, wouldn't make much sense."

Javier spoke up, "You don't think something happened, do you?"

Hosea was the one to answer, not seeming overly concerned, "One thing I know about the woman from what I've seen is that she likes to drink. Considering the circumstances she came here under I wouldn't be too surprised if she crashed at the bar last night."

The rest of the guys nodded, readily agreeing with Hosea's suggestion and this time John took the lead, "Off to the bar it is."

The four of them trotted across town towards the bar, making small conversation on the way. Arthur brought up Dutch, "So, Dutch goes from trying to tear the house apart with his bare hands yesterday to not acting like he cares a bit about her absence today."

Hosea sighed, "Dutch has always been like that, going from one extreme to another."

John agreed, "It's like he just turns his feelings off."

Javier yawned, "He was pretty mad yesterday though. Do you think she would come back with us?"

Arthur shook his head, "No, and I'm not trying to get her to. I just want to make sure she's doing alright. Let her have the day alone yesterday."

Hosea studied the city as they passed through it, "How this place has grown so quickly from what it must have been only a few years ago."

Arthur's lip lifted in disgust, "All of this civilization."

"Maybe she won't ever come back." Javier suggested as he looked around at the city himself, "Dutch may have blew it. What if she decides a life with us isn't a life she wants at all?"

Arthur shrugged and hitched his horse outside of the bar as did everyone else, "I'd miss having her around, all of us would but it may be better off that way. She would be safer." They dismounted the horses and he led them into the bar immediately approaching the man who was still busy cleaning the place. Without doubt he had to be the bar tender from his attire.

Arthur cleared his throat to gain the man's attention, "Excuse me mister, but did there happen to be a young woman, black hair and blue eyes here last night? Goes by the name Celina?"

The man's eyes widened in recognition of the description, "Why yes sir, she's holed up in the first room on the left with friend."

Arthur's face screwed up in confusion, "Her friend?"

"Yea... a formally dressed fella, they were as drunk as could be last night, had no choice but to cut them off."

"Formally dressed?" Hosea asked the question slowly, almost cautiously.

"Yea," the man nodded, not knowing the significance of what he was saying, "British feller I think."

John's eyes widened, "Oh shit."

...

Celina opened her eyes groggily, her head pounding from all the drinking she had been doing the night before. Her thought process stopped when she came to the realization that she was fully naked, "What the hell?" She mumbled the words under her breath and yawned.

Rolling over in the bed, her eyes fell upon Josiah laying there next to her, starting to wake up himself and wearing nothing but his underwear. Her eyes widened as the events of the previous night began coming back to her rapidly, "Shit, crap, crap." She had never been one to sleep with a guy that soon but then came Dutch, and now Trelawny? She shook her head at herself and spoke softly to him, her headache not allowing her to speak much louder, "Josiah?"

He opened his eyes slowly, it clearly not registering with him at first what was going on. Celina smiled at him in his current state, he looked positively adorable. She wondered for a moment how a conman such as he could in the moment appear so innocent. He rubbed at his eyes and stared at her for a moment before surprise registered on his face, "Celina?" His eyes widened even more when he realized that she was naked, "What ever did we do last night?"

Celina raised her eyebrows and gestured to her nakedness sarcastically, "What do you think?" She smiled despite her tone, "You'll remember."

Trelawny nodded, "Oh I'm certain I will." It was clear that his memory was a still fuzzy and he raised his hand to his head which also was apparently throbbing, "I have got to say, I am sure however last night went is worth this unpleasant hangover."

Celina nodded with her lips pursed, trying not to smile too much about the night begore, "Oh it definately was." Truth be told, she did feel a little guilty about what had happened between the two of them when she took a moment to think about Dutch. She pushed the feeling aside though, feeling like that was useless. As far as she knew her and Dutch were well and truly done and what happened with Trelawny... well, happened.

Celina climbed out of the bed and began to get dressed, Trelawny's eyes not leaving her body, "I've got to say my dear, I am beginning to remember."

She smirked confidently at him as she tugged on her pants, "How could you not?"

His green eyes twinkled with happiness, "Though I must say I'm starting to think you spent the day wanting to get me drunk just so you could take advantage of me."

She raised a brow suggestively, "The world may never know."

It was precisely then when there was a heavy knock at the door followed by Arthur's deep and demanding voice, "Celina, are you in there?"

Celina looked back over at the magician with a panicked but mischievous look on her face. She wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed being caught or amused, "It's Arthur." Her face was beat red but a wide smile on her face, she spoke in a whisper, "Seems like there's no hiding this now."

...

A/N: A little shorter of a chapter than the ones in the last couple days but I felt it was only right to stop it here. Hope you guys liked it, good steamy moment between Trelawny and Josiah. As for his hair, just picture it disheveled as how it was when Arthur and Charles rescued him from the bounty hunters. I loved his hair even more than usual in that scene, sexy lol..

But yep, they slept together! And... Arthur, John, Hosea and Javier are now right outside their door ?

Dutch is doing what Dutch does and is trying to act like he doesn't care about her. Turning off his emotions towards the situation as he typically tends to do.

Anyway, questions, comments and predictions are things I always desire to read and greatly enjoy so keep them coming if you would. What's gonna happen next guys? It's gonna be interesting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	34. Chapter 34

Arthur knocked again, "Celina, are you in there?"

She took a deep breath at the demanding outlaw and nodded although she knew he couldn't see though the door, "Yes, I'm in here." She fastened her pants and tugged on her shirt, "Just give me a minute." After running her fingers through her hair and adjusting her clothes so she would look the best she could given the circumstances, she looked over at Josiah to see that he too now looked presentable. She took another deep breath knowing that there was no way of hiding the previous nights events.

Looking over at Trelawny one more time, she walked to the door and opened it slowly to see Arthur, John, Javier and Hosea all standing right outside together. Her face immediately turned red, she had not at all been expecting the four of them to be right outside her door. Her mouth gaped open, "W-what are you all doing here?"

Hosea shook his head and turned his back to her when Trelawny walked up as well, leaning over her shoulder, "Goodmorning, gentlemen."

John's face was beat red, Javier looked as if the juiciest scandal had just been revealed and Arthur fought to find words, pointing an accusing finger at the two of them, "You're telling me the two of you?"

Celina had no choice but to laugh at the situation, never before had she been caught so red-handed in her life. It was Trelawny who spoke, of course Trelawny would be the one to speak, "Well it would appear so, would it not?" He placed his top hat back on his head, his suit jacket draped over his right arm and left arm supporting him as he leaned against the door frame.

Celina didn't think she had blushed so hard in her life. It was as if the cat had caught her tongue. John spoke up, being almost as red as herself, "So I'm taking it that you and Dutch are done."

She licked her lips nervously but nodded, "Yes, I- I... you know, what are you all here for?"

Javier's brows looked like they could be permanently stuck in the raised position he currently held them at, "Well, I was just trying to get out."

Celina tucked her lips in, "Well.. what about the rest of you? Did something happen to Dutch?" Her heart clenched at the thought, if something- anything had happened to him while she had been gone.

"Nothing happened to Dutch, dear." Hosea turned around again, "We were just coming to check on you but it seems that you are doing well."

She couldn't help but smile once more and glanced at Trelawny briefly, "I haven't been pining over Dutch too much if that's what you're worried about."

Arthur nodded awkwardly and took a step back, "Well," he cleared his throat, "I never thought that the two of you would..."

Javier was less appropriate, "What Arthur is trying to say is that we never thought that this would be what you're doing in your time away."

She felt like she would stay permanately red at that point, "Ok, I know it's... it's not what you were expecting. It just kinda happened. We were drunk and..."

Arthur threw up his hand with a smirk, "I get it, just surprised is all."

"In speaking of surprises," Trelawny moved past Celina smoothly, "I have got a great surprise for all of you, there is a boat I've been scoping out and there will be a high stakes poker game.. several of them actually, going on aboard it. If I'm correct, which I am sure I am, we should manage to pull off quite the heist. The games start in two days so I'll see you out by the garden then if you're at all interested."

"Well of course we're interested," Hosea was the first one to speak and rightfully so, being the other professional conman of the gang.

Josiah perked up at that and looked back over his shoulder at Celina as he decended the stairs with Hosea, "I shall meet you back at your hotel, my dear. I believe we have some talking to do."

Celina waved him off with a smile as he walked out of sight. Arthur spoke again then, turning her attention right back to him, "So, seriously, what the hell was that?"

Celina smirked and shrugged, "Me not thinking about Dutch for the night."

Javier raised a brow, "If Dutch finds out about this, he is going to blow."

"Yea," Celina scoffed, "He's been blowing... Micah's dick."

"What?!" John's voice stood out amongst the other two asking the same question.

Celina laughed and held up a hand, "Not literally! At least, I don't think so." She made a face of disgust and looked back at the bedroom before gesturing into it, "You guys can come in if you want, I kinda need to talk to all of you about something anyway and might be better if we aren't overheard by people we don't know."

The three of them raised their brows and Javier couldn't help but quip, "So you're inviting all of us into your room now... Dutch is going to be really mad."

Celina laughed and shook her head, "He will get over it." She shut the door once all of them were inside, laughing when Arthur stared at the bed, "What?" She ran her hand through her hair, "Don't make this any weirder than it has to be."

Javier shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed, "Kinky." He bounced up and down pervertedly, "So glad I got out."

John was quiet although was observing the three of them, a small smile of amusement upon his own face. Arthur leaned against the door, "I'm just surprised it wasn't me who you turned to."

Celina threw her hands in the air incredulously, "It wasn't planned, you jerks!" She laughed, "What I need to talk to you all about though is something that is planned."

John made eye contact with her, his arm resting on the dresser across the room as he leaned on it, "Something that is planned?"

Celina nodded and sat down on the bed by Javier, and took her gloves off, holding up her tattooed hand so they could all look at it again, Javier seeing the tattoos for the first time. He grabbed her arm lightly and studied her hand, "What is that?"

She was done hiding it.. they were getting closer and closer to the point that they were going to be robbing the Saint Denis bank. She couldn't wait any longer, she had to get together the plan.. the plan to get rid of Micah permanately and if that meant revealing her secret to more of the gang.. then so be it. Who knew? Maybe revealing her secret wouldn't be dangerous like Dutch and Hosea had thought.

Dutch... oh Dutch... She hated him right now about as much as she loved him. Now, now she had actually done something that would hurt him. But he deserved it, right? She felt bad for a moment, guilty. Then she thought back to that kiss he had shared with Molly and she was mad at and heartbroken by him all over again. But she loved him. She answered Javier bluntly, "It's a tattoo and it proves that I am telling you all the truth when I say I'm from the future."

"What?!" Javier leaned back from her as if she had just spouted two additional heads. The look on his face then turned to one of confusion when he looked at John and Arthur, "You guys don't seem surprised."

"Well, actually," John started, "We've known for a while, along with Dutch and Hosea... and Sadie."

Celina nodded in agreeance with John's statement, "I'm probably not going to tell Bill, not because I don't trust him but because I'm worried about his big mouth. I need him in on this too. It's got to seem legit... can't be making anything suspicious."

"What suspicious?" It was so obvious that Javier was confused.

Celina sighed and looked around to each of the guys, making eye contact with all of them, "Leading Micah out to kill him." When all three of their eyes widened, Celina hoped that none of them would be opposed to the idea... or plan as it was, "We have to do this, Micah has to go or Dutch is going to fall, and he's never going to be the same."

"So you want to kill Micah to save Dutch?" Javier was looking over at her, giving her his full undivided attention.

Celina nodded, "Yes, and by saving Dutch, we save the gang. It's the only way to get to a better life."

Arthur rubbed his moustache thoughtfully, "It does sound like the ideal picture, finally find somewhere to lie low.. permanately. Live out our lives.. all of us have a shot at starting our own family."

Celina nodded with a small smile, "Say we get rid of Micah, never get the law on us more than they are now. No one else has to get hurt... go farrrr out west, buy fifty acres or so, build houses... the law will eventually forget about us and we can live in peace."

John perked up too, "Abigail and Jack, we won't be dragging them around anymore."

Javier scratched at his moustache which Celina couldn't stand, he had a stupid moustache, "You talk as if I'd need more of a reason to kill Micah besides him being Micah."

Celina couldn't help but let loose a huge smile, it was going to work, they were going to kill Micah and Celina was going to get the Dutch that she loved back. Sure... he'd be depressed at first, but he wouldn't ever need to know who it was who killed the rat, "So, is that a yes? Are we going to do this?"

John nodded, "I'm in."

Arthur nodded, "Me too."

Javier stood up from the bed, "I guess I'll go talk to Bill. When are we going to do this?"

Celina shrugged, "Soon as possible, we'll figure it out. I've been thinking about this... alot." She ran her tongue over her lips, "And I think that I know the best way to go about it.. if we get Bill on our side, Javier, you and him can ask him to ride with you, or get him to invite himself... whatever. Then Arthur and John can go with you too. Ride out back to the cabin outside of Braithwaite manor that we rescued Trelawny from.. I'll be waiting for you guys there and then we can all jump Micah and string him up like the rat he is."

"That's," Arthur paused, "That's a good plan. You and Wolfman can really think."

She rolled her eyes and flicked Arthur off, "So what do you guys say?"

John stood up straight with a nod, "Yeah, ok. I can't really think of anything better."

Celina shook her head, "Neither can I, like I've said, I have been thinking it through for a bit. Maybe say we don't kill him right away but draw it out a bit. Javier?"

The Mexican nodded, "As I said, I really don't need convincing to see that snake suffer. I would have killed him by now myself if Dutch wouldn't have blew his lid."

"So, as far as Dutch.. My only concern is that he may want to try to come with us and if that's the case, there is no way the plan will be successful. We need to keep Dutch busy, keep him at camp." Celina swallowed, "Then when we come back, we'll blame Micah's death on the Pinkertons and claim that we weren't able to retrieve his body."

John tilted his head to the side slightly, "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

The woman laughed, "I think I'm going to talk to Hosea, see if he can help think of a lie to get Micah out of camp and heading to the cabin with you guys."

Arthur raised a brow, "How is it that the woman who sleeps with Trelawny comes up with a plan like this?"

She shook her head at him, an amused smile fighting it's way onto her face, "I told you I was drunk..." She shrugged, "And, maybe I kinda like him."

Javier perked up, "Wouldn't you say you kinda like me?"

She rolled her eyes and leaned into him, acting as if she were going to kiss him only to pull away at the last second. She smiled mischeviously when he groaned in disappointment, "You're such a tease."

She laughed and moved away from him, "I'm going to go and see if Trelawny and Hosea are done conspiring and see what he wants. Thank you though, you guys... for checking on me... did Dutch say anything?"

The three of them were quiet for a moment, none of them knowing quite what to say. Celina nodded, understanding what their silence meant. Dutch had expressed no interest in coming to see her, "I see. So, is he... with Molly?"

Again silence until John cleared his throat and spoke up, "He was mad, like really mad when you left. Took him a day or so to even start to calm down."

She felt a tear prick at her eyes, "Yea, so he's already over it and back with Molly." She sniffled, "I really love him guys, but I hate him for making me feel like-" her voice broke off and she shook her head, "I won't ever wish misfortune on him and I want to see you all living better lives along with Dutch, I want all of you including him to be happy and safe. I love you guys, and the thought of Dutch and all of you being happy and free makes me happy, although it hurts because of all that's happened it makes me happy."

Arthur stepped forwards with a small, sad smile, "We're here for you. All of us."

"I appreciate that," she tried to fight back her tears and was surprised to feel Javier rest his hand on her back, "But you're his family so I really... I want you guys around. I do, but even this hurts. I just feel distant now."

"I understand," Arthur dipped his head respectfully at his own words, "But I hope that you feel like you can return whenever you want. You are always welcome."

She returned the small, sad smile and stood up from the bed, patting Javier on the shoulder lightly in thanks for his attention, "I don't think I can do that right now or even think about it. But hopefully," She took a deep breath, "Hopefully before long I can come back. I think for right now I'm going to do some traveling with Trelawny but I'll be around and I won't leave until Micah is good and dealt with."

"Well, we still hate to see you go." John was the one who said this, his voice and facial expression proving his words were genuine.

"I know... I know... but how it is now? I really don't think I have much of a choice. If Dutch would quit being an idiot... you guys heard him, make those accusations at me about the thing with the Braithwaites being my doing."

Javier nodded as did John. It was Javier who spoke, "We should have never went through with that."

"No," Celina raked her fingers through her hair, "No you shouldn't have but you did... and it's ok. We'll deal with it one step at a time." She glanced over to the door, "I should get my stuff from my motel before it's check out time."

"Where are you going to go?" Arthur sounded concerned, "You said you're not hitting the road until Micah's dealt with, right?"

She glanced down at the ground in a rather guilty manner, "You can say that I've made... living arrangements here in the city until I head out."

Arthur's mouth about fell open, "You're living with Trelawny now?"

She shrugged, "Why not? I've already seen him naked."

...

"She's fine, Dutch. That is if you care."

Dutch looked over in the direction Hosea approached from, his cigar between his fingers, "Where's this attitude coming from?"

Hosea squinted at him in disbelief and shook his head, "How you treated Celina was wrong." His voice shook, "That is a good girl and how you treated her is wrong, Dutch. If you care about that girl, you need to go to her because she is getting ready to leave here soon."

Dutch's face contorted in confusion, "Getting ready to leave? She already left."

The older man's eyes widened, eyebrows raised, "She's getting ready to leave Saint Denis... with Josiah."

Dutch's face did not change as he raised his cigar to his lips and took another drag from it, "If she wants to travel the country, pulling rabbits out of hats with him then so be it."

"Dutch." Hosea felt sick, everything Celina had told him about how Dutch's future could play out suddenly hitting him harder than before, "Dutch, please. You can't just act like you don't care. If she were Annab-"

"She ain't Annabelle!" Dutch roared at him, his face immediately turning blood red. He took a deep breath at the look of shock on the older mans face, "She ain't Annabelle." His voice softened, "Annabelle is dead."

Hosea swallowed and nodded, "Yes, she is." He shifted his weight from one leg to the other somewhat nervously, "I'm sorry I brought her up, Dutch... I just feel like if you gave Celina a real chance like you did her, she would be good for you. She would be so good for you." Hosea watched Dutch's facial expressions for any sign that he was getting through his thick skull but when he saw none, he sighed, "She didn't betray you, Dutch. And you kissing Molly? That was you making an idiot of yourself. A complete, utter, idiot."

Dutch remained quiet, he didn't know what to say, but when Hosea spoke, he listened. He always at least listened. The old man finally walked away, head hung low in defeat, Dutch never taking his eyes off of him until he was out of sight. The leader sighed and turned on his heel, heading back into the house. It was rare for him to see Hosea act as he just had.

Molly approached him as he made his way through the front room, mouth opened and ready to say something to him. Instead of greeting her, Dutch threw his hand up to silence the city woman, "Not now, Molly."

She stood there still for a second, mouth agape in shock though she shouldn't have been shocked by his actions. She was rendered speechless as she helplessly watched him walk by and up the stairs. Dutch didn't bother to look back at her. He simply didn't care.

At the top of the stairs, he ran his hands over his black hair and tugged at it slightly in stress before entering his room... the room that he and Celina had shared before he had acted like an idiot in Hosea's words. He stared at the empty bed for a moment, picturing the petite woman there as she had been so many times, waiting for him to come to bed. He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. He had messed up, he had messed up bad.

It was rediculous that behind closed doors he spent last night laying on his side of the bed and staring at the empty spot beside him where she should be. He had done that practically all night, thinking about her... wishing he could change things... trying to be mad at Bill for letting her leave. He was trying to be mad at anyone and everyone expect himself and it just wasn't working.

Dutch sat on the end of the bed and rested his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands, letting out a groan of both emotional and physical exhaustment. Now she was fixing to go away with Trelawny? Trelawny? How had they made plans so soon? She was really comfortable enough to just leave him and the gang behind and go off with the magician? How would be ever be able to know where she was or what she was doing if she was running around with him?

Dutch drug his hand over his face, he needed to do something. Did Celina think that he was screwing Molly? Maybe... probably. He hadn't gotten the chance to explain himself... Molly had been there for him when he wasn't sure if he could trust Celina after the Braithwaite situation and they shouldn't have gotten close again, but they had... when Celina wasn't around. Not sexually... no, they hadn't had sex in months, ever since before Molly got pummled by Celina. But had they kissed? A couple times. He had hated feeling almost dirty for it, knowing that something may have been spouting between Molly and himself again during the short period of time between the day he threw those accusations at her and the day she left.

No sex though, not even after Celina left. He couldn't... He wouldn't.. Dutch groaned again and laid down on the bed, closing his eyes tightly as if to block out even his own thoughts. He opened them slowly when that didn't work and got off the bed in a haste. He had to go see her.

...

A/N: There's the next chapter! Sorry it took a little while you guys, I'm trying. I would still expect a few days between updates for right now. Thank you all for the kind, caring comments on my last A/N. I know I didn't reply to all of them but I did read them all and they all meant a lot to me.

Anyway, hope this chapter didn't disappoint anyone and as always, questions, comments and predictions are very much appreciated! I love reading them ?

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	35. Chapter 35

"Thanks for helping me pack up." Celina ran her fingers through her hair and looked around the motel room from where she stood, scanning the area for anything of hers which she was forgetting to take.

Trelawny held her dufflecase which was as new as the rest of the things she had bought in Saint Denis, "It's truly not a problem. Now my place, it isn't far from here, just a short walk."

Celina nodded and feeling confident that she had everyhing of hers in the dufflecase, she looked back at him, "You said we have some talking to do."

He nodded and sat her things down, "Do we not? After last night..."

Celina took a deep breath herself and nodded, sitting back down on the bed, she looked up at him, "We probably should talk about it..."

Silence fell between the two of them until Trelawny spoke up again, "We were drunk."

The woman laughed with a nod, "We were very, very drunk."

Trelawny shook his head, "So very drunk. But, my dear, I would be lying if I said I was opposed to it happening again."

She licked her lips and looked down at her hands, fidgeting with them nervously, "I'm in love with Dutch," she made eye contact with him, "But it doesn't matter. I'm done trying to do anything about it... He and I are done."

Trelawny raised a brow, "For now."

She corrected him, "Indefinitely. I can't predict the future but I need to move on with my life. I'm not going to sit around like a broken-hearted little girl and cry over him."

Josiah nodded, "As I can see."

She sighed, "So... I'm willing to... based on the time we had before and after getting drunk yesterday, I feel like I'm willing to see where any of this goes between us. I need to move on, Josiah. If you're ok with helping me do that..."

"Oh most definately my dear, most definately. But to be clear, we are keeping this arrangement between the two of us from reaching Dutch's ears. Am I correct?"

Celina nodded, "If I can help it, that's the plan. I mean, the way the guys caught us this morning I suppose I can't guarantee Dutch isn't going to find out."

"That is true." He picked up the dufflecase again and opened the door for her, "Shall we be on our way my dear?"

Celina smiled and shook her head once again at how proper he was, "Not quite yet."

Trelawny looked back over at her to see her approaching him in a determined manner and he closed the door right before she pushed him against it, crashing her lips back onto his.

Trelawny grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her to tip her head back, keeping his lips fully on hers and his tongue in her mouth. He bit down on her bottom lip and tugged gently before attacking her neck with his lips, biting and sucking until she was practically putty in his hands.

...

"Ok," Celina spoke once her breathing was finally back to normal, "I think we should get going. Checkout has to be within the next few minutes."

Trelawny pushed his hair out of his face and sat up in the bed, his lean, toned body still glistening with sweat, "If it's not passed."

Celina sat up as well and got out of bed, picking up her articles of clothing from the floor, "It may have."

The two of them after clothing themselves once more, made their way downstairs and checked out of the motel. It wasn't until they stepped outside and were half way to Josiah's apartment that she felt her heart sink into her stomach. Of all people he was there, what was he doing there? Celina closed her eyes knowing that he had seen her due to the fact he was now heading in their direction. She swallowed and opened her eyes slowly, "D-Dutch."

Dutch's eyes seemed to sparkle with happiness upon being able to locate her, "Celina," he then looked over at Trelawny who was standing next to her, "Josiah, if you wouldn't mind giving the two of us a moment alone."

Trelawny looked over to Celina for approval and seeing her nod slightly, he dipped his own head, "Certainly, Dutch." The magician walked off a good distance, trying to remove himself from obvious earshot.

Celina watched him walk away before allowing Dutch to lead her a bit in the opposite direction. When they stopped and Dutch turned to face her, Celina raised her hand and backhanded him across the face harshly, "How dare you."

Dutch raised his hand to his cheek, trying to dull the intense sting by putting pressure on it, "I probably deserved that."

"No." Celina spat out, "You do deserve that. There's no probably about it. What are you doing here, Dutch?" She was practically livid, who was he coming here?

Dutch opened his mouth before he knew what to say, "I miss you."

"Oh, do you?" She clapped sarcastically, "Good for you, Dutch. You possess the ability to care. What happened? Molly finally leave you too?"

"No," he swallowed, this conversation wasn't going the way he had planned it on his ride there, "She didn't. We didn't... don't, I-" he sighed, "It was only a kiss, Celina. We haven't done anything more. I won't."

Celina stared at him for a moment in surprise, she hadn't expected him to say that. Was he telling the truth? She felt like he was. She once again felt guilty but forced herself to push the thought aside, she needed to stand her ground, "How am I supposed to believe that?"

The look on his face was if she had slapped him again, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know if I can trust you, Dutch. As much as I love you." She licked her lips and looked around Dutch to see Trelawny standing in the distance, watching them. He was undoubtedly trying to eavesdrop, "How does it feel? Huh?" She made eye contact with Dutch, "To know that you aren't trusted by me?" She laughed humorlessly, "Tell me, Dutch. How does that make you feel? I can almost guarantee you that you made me feel ten times worse because unlike you, I actually have a heart. Unlike you, I wasn't guilty in the slightest."

Dutch didn't break eye contact and she could have sworn that she saw sincerity in his dark eyes, "I am sorry. I don't know what you want me to say."

His apology was more than enough to pull on her heartstrings, once again, she felt herself start to cry. She wiped at her tears quickly, "How could you do this to me, Dutch? All of this between you, Micah and I and then Molly as well?! You may as well have been cheating on me with Molly and Micah."

Dutch put his hand up to stop her, "I would never do that." Apparently the cheating with Micah comment wasn't something he felt he needed to address, "I never cheated on you with no one."

Celina shook her head in disbelief, in that moment, his terrible grammar was really irritating her. Everything about him was irritating her, "You kissed her, Dutch and you chose Micah over me."

"It was only a kiss."

Celina nodded, "And did it only happen once?" Dutch was quiet for a moment and that was all the confirmation Celina needed, "So it wasn't the only time. You had been kissing her and getting cozy with her behind my back." Dutch looked uncomfortable and she continued, pointing a firm, accusing finger at him, "Cheating doesn't just mean sex, Dutch. You cheated on me."

Dutch's eyes widened, "I thought we were done. Celina-"

"How exactly did you think we were done?" She was beat red, this time from anger rather than embarrassment, "How long have you been going behind my back?"

Dutch's eyes widened somewhat and he looked at the ground briefly before looking back at her, "Since we got in that fight about Micah saying you ordered the attack on the Grays and Braithwaites."

"So your argument in invalid." Her voice was suddenly emotionless, surprising even herself, "I told you that we weren't done back then when you got back home from shooting the Braithwaites to hell. We didn't break up Dutch. You know what? Get out of my sight."

Dutch's brows furrowed as if he took offense to her demand, "Get out of your sight?" He stepped forwards, "You're making a mistake, you need to come home. Please, I came here to fix things with you. I was wrong, I admit. I should have never treated you the way I did. I regret that. If you could give me another chance. Molly and I are done, and as for Micah, if you-"

Celina cut him off, her eyes full of tears once again, "I'm not going to keep putting myself through all of this heartache for you, Dutch. You and I, we're the ones who are done. You're juat saying what you think I want to hear you say but too little, too late."

Dutch set his jaw, his dark eyes were pleading, "Please."

Celina lifted a shaky hand to the side of his face and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and inhaling his scent. She felt as if looking at him would be too much for her to handle. She couldn't just give into him again, she couldn't. She may not ever. She did force herself to open her eyes and look at him though, "I can't do this, Dutch. I can't fight against Molly and Micah for you. I'm done. I can't have you not trusting me."

Dutch hung his head, "I- I'm sorry."

She smiled sadly, "Is Micah still at camp?" After Dutch nodded, Celina took a step back, "If you were sorry, he would be gone."

Dutch took her hand in his own, "I can't do that. I can't just kick him out when I don't believe he's done anything wrong."

Celina nodded, fighting the urge to scream and took a step back from him, "Then I'm sorry too."

...

"Ah, there you are, dear boy." Celina smiled at Trelawny's greeting to Arthur from where she stood at the magicians side. She was looking forward to the boat heist, it was going to be fun.

Trelawny, over the last couple days had been doing his best to get information out of her regarding her tattoos. Of course he had seen them all clearly considering how much time they spent naked together. He was very curious to say the least but Celina had so far refused to reveal the truth about what they were to him. Again, not out of distrust in the slightest, but simply because he had a big mouth. And over the last couple days, not only had be been nosy about them, but he had been a true gentleman and made her happy, despite the fact that she continuously went in and out of depression caused by Dutch.

Celina beamed at Arthur as he approached, "He's going to make you wear a suit."

Arthur looked like he was already starting to regret his decision to show up, "Why?"

Trelawny gestured to him as if that was an answer enough, "You can't play at the tables of a Lannahechee river boat looking like that."

The outlaw actually seemed surprised, "You can't?"

Trelawny shook his head with a small smile, "Not if you want to fit in so that no one will notice you're there to rob the place." He began walking in the direction of the Tailor, his right arm wrapped around Celina's waist as she walked alongside him. He gestured to Arthur to follow, "Common, we're going to get you fixed up so fine that no one will notice a thing."

Celina laughed when she heard Arthur groan as he followed them. He could be such a kid sometimes. They entered the Tailors shop, Celina feeling as if they were forcing Arthur into things against his will.

Trelawny walked up to the man behind the counter and greeted him warmly, "Hello there good sir, if you would, please fix my friend up here in the dandiest suit you've got. He has an important poker match to attend later on." He turned around and directed Arthur who reluctantly complied towards the counter.

Trelawny walked away from the two men and sat down in the waiting area beside Celina, "Our boy is going to be looking quite fine before the day grows much older."

Celina nodded and sat back comfortably in her chair, "So, what's your plan to get off the boat if and when this gets ugly?"

Trelawny stared ahead, watching as Arthur disappeared into a changing room worth the suit the tailor had given him, "If it comes to that, I'm sure we'll figure ourselves a way out."

Celina rolled her eyes but smiled anyway, she couldn't help but to smile at the magician, "You never think things through. Do you?"

"Not at all, my dear. You've got to worry about the moment at hand and not so much after."

She definately disagreed but couldn't help but to laugh at him. She gestured to Arthur when he came out of the dressing room, short hair messy from changing his clothes, "Well, he definately don't look like an outlaw in that."

"Which is exactly what we need." Trelawny stood to his feet and called out to Arthur, "That's the one, my boy." He walked up to the counter and said something to the man working it which apparently allowed the three of them to walk out with the new suit without any of them paying a thing.

Celina looked back at the man behind the counter almost suspiciously before heading out the door with the men. She shook her head at Josiah, "How did you get that suit for free?"

"Oh, I have my ways about me." He winked at her, "A magician never reveals his secrets."

The woman rolled her eyes for what felt like the fiftieth time that day alone and scoffed under her breath, "You don't say."

"I do say." Trelawny quipped back at her naturally, a quip that she couldn't keep from laughing out loud at. He then directed his attention to Arthur, "Now, Arthur, off to the barber we go and then we'll meet the crew at the doc out by the boat."

Arthur groaned again in distaste towards all he was going through just to pull off a heist but nodded, "So, what have the two of you been up to the last few days? Besides," he held up his hand, "The obvious."

Celina shrugged, "Really not much, getting into trouble, thinking about getting into trouble and just living minute by minute."

Arthur nodded as they continued the walk to the barber's, "So you're doing alright then."

"Oh, of course."

They entered the barber shop, Trelawny immediately flagging down the barber, "Please, sir, make this boy here into a prince. He's got some truly important matters to attend to. He's due to a high ranks poker game."

"Certainly." The barber approached the chair as Arthur sat down in it and started combing through his dirty-blonde locks.

Celina looked over at Josiah with a small smile of amusement. It didn't take someone who knew Arthur to pick up on the fact he hated what he was currently being put through so much. The two of them again took a seat in the waiting area, Trelawny's hand resting gently on her knee. The woman yawned and Josiah looked over at her with a raised brow, "Did you not sleep well last night?"

The woman smirked and slapped his hand playfully, keeping her voice low, "You know I didn't. You're exactly the reason why if I'm remembering correctly."

Trelawny smiled mischeviously, "Are you going to come aboard the boat with me?"

She nodded in a manner that suggested the answer to that was obvious, "Well yeah, who would I be not to? I haven't been on a boat before."

"Is that so?" He glanced over at Arthur who still wasn't quite done with his hair cut, "Well, it seems that this will be quite the experience for you in that case."

...

Arthur was finally done with this haircut and he truly did look dashing in his suit but not at all comfortable in it. Trelawny led them outside and to the carriage that awaited them. Celina wished for a moment that it was only she and Trelawny who were going to be transported in it thinking it to be quite beautiful and that it would make for quite the charming experience.

Arthur on the other hand, didn't seem so impressed, "Seriously? A carriage? Isn't this a bit much?"

"Not at all, my boy. Go on now, climb up there," he gestured to the carriage and Arthur complied reluctantly. Trelawny then approached the carriage himself and took Celina's hand in his, providing her help in climbing into the carriage if needed.

Celina let go of his hand as she sat down, fixing her red dress once she was comfortable which matched Trelawny's tie. She scooted close to Arthur to allow room for the magician on the opposite side of her and scooted closer to him once he was sat down beside her.

"So," Arthur asked as they started forwards, "What exactly is the plan once we get aboard?"

"Well, you will be introduced as a very wealthy oil man with a skilled hand at poker, getting you into the highest ranking of games." Trelawny seemed so sure of himself, so confident and collected as usual.

"Ok, and what money am I playing with exactly?"

Trelawny waved him off, "Don't worry about it, just be assured you are covered no matter how expensive this game gets. Hosea will be there handing out the cards, just watch him and you will be fine."

Arthur pointed at the driver, "Is he ok with all of this?"

Trelawny nodded, "Absolutely, he and I go way back."

"So," Celina licked her lips, "How it's set up, "Javier will be a guard aboard the boat and he will ensure you are able to get back into the safes which is where many of the competitors keep their funds."

Arthur fidgetted nervously with his hands, "This seems risky, like there's a lot of room for things to go wrong. How will Hosea know which cards I have?"

"Just trust him," Trelawny did not seem concerned in the least, "As long as everyone keeps a level head this should go smoothly."

Celina couldn't help but to laugh, knowing that this heist was most certainly not going to go smoothly. It would be ok though, she was sure that none of the gang would be killed... at least they shouldn't be. She only hoped replacing Strauss with Hosea wouldn't mess anything up.

Finally the carriage came to a stop at the doc and Celina leaned over and pressed a kiss to Trelawny's lips before he climbed down from the carriage. She followed him to the ground, accepting his help as usual. She didn't need it at all, but it was too sweet and sincere of an offer too pass up at any point.

Arthur hopped down off his side of the carriage and the three of them regrouped over where Javier and Hosea stood waiting for them. Celina felt her heart falter once again when she realized that Dutch was also posing as a guard. She made eye contact with the man who had broken her heart before looking back over to Trelawny, "You didn't tell me he was going to be here."

The magician looked truly as surprised as she felt, "I did not know, my dear. I would have never brought you along."

Dutch said nothing from the distance he stood away from them, not breaking his act as a stranger to the group but the eye contact was intense. So intense that for a second, Celina wondered how she could even move under his stare.

"Good evening gentlemen," Trelawny gave a small curtsy in getting, "Today I present to you my good friend Arthur Callahan, he's traveled out here specifically for the poker games aboard this fine boat today. Comes from a long line of wonderfully rich oil men and is ready to take some risks."

Arthur greeted Javier and Hosea with a polite smile and then Trelawny gestured to Celina, "And this fine lady here is my wife, Mrs. Celina Trelawny. We've come along with Arthur only for the luxuries this event will offer."

Celina did her best not to seem surprised at Trelawny introducing her as his wife, he hadn't indicated he was going to do such a thing before. She managed to act the part though, nodding politely at Javier and Hosea with a smile, "We look forward to the night ahead." She couldn't help but to catch Dutch's gaze once more out of the corner of her eye. He did not look happy. Of course he didn't look happy, Trelawny had just introduced her as his wife and she had went along with it without a seconds hesitation.

"Very well then," Javier turned on his heel and began to lead them up the ramp into the boat, "Follow me."

Celina, Trelawny, Arthur, Hosea and even Dutch followed at Javier's request. Celina found it hilarious how smoothly they had all played their parts and snuck aboard the ship undetected. Trelawny was definately an intelligent man, Hosea too, putting the heist together as they had. So far, anyway... it hadn't gotten messy yet.

Arthur immediately separated from Celina and Trelawny, following Hosea over to the poker tables. Javier broke off from them and went off to continue guarding another portion of the boat. Dutch however, was nowhere to be seen no matter where she looked. Trelawny caught her looking for him, "You're worried whether or not he's watching, aren't you?"

Celina shook her head, "No, not worried. I really don't care, I just am confused as to where he went. I thought he was right behind us."

Trelawny looked around himself as well, "I'm sure he is somewhere doing something to the likes of himself, my dear. No need to waste time wondering about his whereabouts."

Celina sighed with another nod, she was glad she had Josiah to keep her from overthinking about Dutch from time to time. She placed another kiss on his lips before grabbing his hand and dragging him out to the left of the boat where some people were dancing to the soft music and conversing amongst themselves, "Do you want to dance?"

Trelawny nodded, taking the lead in heading over there, "Do I ever."

They found a spot in the crowd then Trelawny holding Celina close to him as they danced to the slow music, his arms around her waist and her arms draped comfortably over his neck.

Trelawny kept his gaze focused on the poker table which Arthur sat at, ready to leave at the first sight of trouble. Celina however, was scoping out the people, her eyes fixated on a woman who wore an elegant string of pearls around her neck. She whispered up to Josiah, "That woman, to my right... that necklace would be a good take."

Trelawny looked over in the direction of the woman she indicated, "That would be a wonderful take indeed. Very high quality."

"So, what do you think?" She did her best not to be noticed looking at her, "Should we move in on it?"

"We wait," Trelawny picked up the pace he danced when the music quickened, Celina matching the change, "We don't want to take a chance of the poker match ending early. That would ruin everything."

Celina nodded, understanding of the situation at hand although she was a bit disappointed. Those pearls would get them so much closer to leaving than if they didn't have them. It was then that Dutch finally caught her eye again, he was staring at them through the crowd. She took a deep breath and when the song was over, backed away from Trelawny, "Dutch is staring. I'm going to go see what he wants."

Trelawny raised a brow, at her, not quite understanding why she felt the need to speak with Dutch after their conversation which he overheard from a couple days ago but he nodded nonetheless, "Do as you must."

Celina parted from him and made her way through the crowd over to where Dutch was standing. She didn't address him by his name just for the sake of discretion, "What's your problem?"

Dutch gestured to Trelawny, "What are you doing, pretending to be in love with him, pretending to be his wife?"

Celina shook her head, "Who are you to demand answers like that from me? It does not concern you. I told you that I'm moving on with my life and he's helping me to do just that. I'm sure you have Molly helping you so screw off."

Dutch looked defeated at her words, a look so sincere that she almost felt bad for him, almost. She immediately threw her walls back up again though, she couldn't allow him to keep hurting her and she feared that was exactly what he would do. He was Dutch, that's what he did... intentionally or not. He tipped his hat down, trying to keep his identity from being too obvious. He was going to say it, he had to say it, "I love you." His voice cracked and Celina had to divert her gaze from his to hide the fact that she had instantly teared up.

She licked her lips, feeling them suddenly go dry. Heck, it felt as if her entire mouth had finally gone dry. She finally mustered the courage to make eye contact with him again and told God's honest truth, "I love you too, you know that. I'll always love you... even Josiah knows that. However, I cannot... will not be with you, Dutch." She kept her voice low, "It is too much. I just, I can't. I hope some day you can understand... some day maybe things will be different." A few tears slipped from her eyes and rolled down her face, "For now though, and indefinitely, I am leaving with Josiah and I'm going to give whatever is going on between he and I an honest shot."

The expression on Dutch's face was one of a heartbroken man and she almost hated herself for being the one to cause that emotion to surface in him, "You can't." His voice was aurhoritive and she was sure if they weren't currently on a heist, his reaction would be a lot worse. "Y- you're really leaving me?"

Celina nodded and took another deep breath, she was doing what she had to do for herself. She couldn't stick around just to make Dutch happy, not after all he had put her through. She wasn't even completely sure that he trusted her and if he didn't, things would never get better between the two of them anyway.

"Yes," she clarified, keeping her voice firm although she felt anything but calm and collected, "Yes, I am."

...

A/N: Long chapter guys! Really loved writing this one as we can finally see Dutch starting to feel bad and trying to keep her from leaving him. It doesn't seem to be working though. Does he deserve it? I think so...

Anyway, thoughts on Celina/Trelawny? I really feel like there's chemistry/ a connection there. Lol, I had to write the part of Trelawny introducing her as his wife. So... what do you think of the chapter as a whole?

And yes, I know that Trelawny is married in the game but he's not married in this story...

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	36. Chapter 36

Celina sat at the bar beside Trelawny as he argued with the man whom Arthur had 'beat' at poker. She couldn't get her heart to stop pounding so violently inside her chest... Dutch had told her that he loved her. Dutch, how he had spoken to her showed her that he could still be the Dutch she loved and he told her he loved her. She bit at her nails distractedly as she thought, blocking out everything around her for the moment. He was trying... trying to keep her from leaving, sincerely and she had practically threw his near plea in his face.

She felt tears prick at her eyes and looked in Dutch's direction. Maybe leaving him was a mistake... of course it was! How could she really expect Dutch to keep from getting worse if she was gone? Suddenly, she felt sick at the thought of leaving him. He needed her and she... Well, she couldn't quite explain it, but he made her feel complete... She loved him, could she accept him back after the hurt he had caused her?

As for Josiah, would she be ok not running off with him? She had never expected Dutch to tell her he loved her. She bit down on her bottom lip, she wanted to see where things would go with Trelawny, truly. He treated her in a way that she had never been treated before and she loved it. She truly cared for Josiah and thought that maybe, eventually, she would fall in love with him.

But then there was Dutch, standing there across the room and looking as handsome as ever. He turned his head to look at her and she felt her heart skip a beat upon making eye contact with him. She swallowed and that's when she heard the gunshot ring out. She rolled her eyes, of course that had to happen.

Immediately commotion came about downstairs as people started panicking, wondering if what they heard was truly a gunshot and if so, what was going on and where it was coming from. Trelawny looked over at her, "Do you think that was one of the boys?"

Celina nodded and as he pulled her back into reality out of her thoughts, "Most certainly." Her decision was quite clear, she couldn't make her decisions worrying about how they made others feel and the actions of others were their own responsibility, not hers. She wasn't going to stay around just because it would make Dutch happy. Because when it came down to it, she wanted to leave with Trelawny. That was what would make her happy. And with Micah soon to be dead? She was sure Dutch would be fine. Dutch couldn't get his way all the time and thats something he would have to deal with.

"Oh dear," Trelawny glanced outwards towards the stairs, "I do hope they are alright."

Going off with Josiah would be good for her, he was so refreshing from the intensity of being with Dutch... really the intensity of her whole life and she loved how free she felt in his company. She needed to go with him. It was 1899, everyone was guaranteed their next breath much less in the current year than the one Celina was from and she wasn't going to spend the time she survived in the current world worrying and being stressed constantly. Dutch... unless Dutch changed, she was afraid that there would be no escaping that headpounding intensity with him. What she was looking for wasn't a love-hate relationship, as Dutch offered... but a little slice of heaven. She took a deep breath, "I'm sure they're ok."

Before long, Javier and Arthur came walking calmly into the room, acting rather convincingly as if they had nothing to do with the gunshot. Celina smiled a the men as they approached the bar, heading towards them. Dutch followed close behind them and Celina felt more torn than ever before with both the extreme Anarchist and Magician within such close proximity to her. She thought she made her decision. She thought she had, but-

Dutch spoke, looking around at the crowd picking up on what was going on more and more by the second, "We need to get out of here."

Just then, a man wearing thermal clothing came running into the room, pointing an accusing finger at Javier, "There he is! That's the man who stole my uniform!"

"Great," Celina and Arthur immediately dove behind the bar when several people started shooting at them, Dutch taking cover behind a pole as well as Javier, Celina wasn't sure where Hosea was but Trelawny hid behind the bar with Celina and Arthur..

Arthur spoke over the gunfire, "Now we've got to get out of here."

Celina nodded, firing at the men rushing at them as well, "As soon as we have an opening we need to dive off this boat."

Arthur nodded, "Agreed."

At the first break in fire, the group rushed to the side of the boat and as quickly as possible, they all dove into the water. Celina surfaced quickly, gasping for air and started swimming forwards as quickly as possible all the while looking around her, ensuring all the guys were there as well.

...

The next day came and went and Celina had admittedly spent it thinking about Dutch no matter how much she tried to get him off her mind. She had told Josiah what had happened, that Dutch had said he loved her and that that was the reason she couldn't bring herself to engage in bedroom activities with the magician from then to the present point. How could she sleep with him after the man she loved more than life itself admitted to loving her? She groaned, so incredibly tired of having the outlaw running through her mind.

She cared for Trelawny and there was something there. Now that Dutch had said that to her though? She hated to admit it but her feelings for Trelawny seemed irrelevant. They were there, but they no longer mattered, not when compared to her feelings for Dutch Van Der Linde at least. Trelawny knew that, she had broken it to him the previous night when he had attempted to seduce her and was surprisingly unsuccessful.

She couldn't help it, she had realized well and truly that the only one she wanted was Dutch and she had broken it to Trelawny wonderfully gently, all the while letting him know that she had feelings for him as well... but as a friend would. She was in love with Dutch, hopelessly and forever and no one, she felt, would ever hold a match to him in her heart.

At the present time it was morning and she was lounging on the magicians couch, staring at the ceiling. It was only a few minutes until she had to leave to meet the boys at the cabin... hopefully with Micah. As far as going back home to Dutch? The thought almost made her laugh, she would, and soon but not yet. She wanted him to think about his actions a bit more.

...

"Well," John looked over at Arthur from where he stood tacking up his horse, "Is Micah coming?"

"Yep," Arthur gave a confident nod and tightened the girth on his own saddle. He kept his voice low, "He's going to ride with us right to his own demise. Hopefully Celina knows what she's talking about. Hopefully this all works out and everything starts getting better from here on out."

John glanced over to where Dutch and Hosea stood talking, leaning against the well. What Hosea was doing was making their fake task seem more convincing in the eyes of the leader. The older man had readily agreed to stay at camp and keep Dutch distracted enough not to go with Arthur, John, Javier, Bill and Micah to take out a large portion of the O'Driscoll gang camped out by the cabin and around the burned plantation home. Apparently Hosea had luckily been successful in his task at hand, otherwise... there would be no plan.

Javier and Bill came over and mounted their horses, the four conspirators all sharing a discrete, knowing look with one another. Javier almost seemed more eager than anyone else to get the job done, "Do you think she'll be there yet?"

Arthur nodded as he mounted his horse, "Well, I would hope so, we agreed shortly after the sun rose, so around seven or so."

John shrugged, following the rest of them in mounting his horse, "If she's not, she will be soon enough. Won't have the same effect though."

"No," Arthur shook his head with a laugh, "Not at all."

...

Celina paced back and forth inside the cabin, biting at her nails nervously and looking out the window every-so-often and checking for the boys. Something could have went wrong. Maybe Dutch decided to come along and they couldn't keep him from doing so. Maybe Micah refused to go with them or maybe he did go with them and picked up on what was going on... Maybe he shot one of them- or all of them. Celina shook her head at the terrible thought.

Maybe nothing had went wrong, yet, but maybe it would. Maybe Micah would see her and before anyone got the chance to react there would be a bullet through her scull... or Arthur, John, Bill or Javier's. Again, she closed her eyes tightly. What if Dutch broke away from camp and managed to follow the five men out of suspicion of something going on?

Celina ran her hand through her hair and let out a sigh. Who knew ambushing Micah would be so stressful? Whenever she thought about it, she saw it as fun and fulfilling. She looked out the window once again, this time finally seeing the boys riding in with Micah coming right along with them, just as planned. It was fulfilling to see the rat riding right into his own trap. Part of her wanted to take his horse after he was over with. She liked that horse, always had. It was a beautiful stallion, and this blue eyes got her every time.

...

Bill was riding in the back, right behind Micah when they neared the cabins. He was ready for his cue at any second and as soon as Arthur yelled for Colm O'Driscoll, he knew that was it. The largest outlaw immediately lassoed Micah effortlessly, pulling him right off his horse and to the ground.

Micah yelled and squirmed about, struggling to free himself, his eyes growing wide with fear as the men he was riding with got down from their horses and surrounded him, "What the hell are y'all doing?!"

Arthur placed his foot on his back and crushed him into the ground to the point he was prevented from hardly moving at all, "What does it seem like we're doing?" He bent down and hogtied him as Javier removed all of his weapons from him and added them to his own stash.

"No!" Micah did his best to get away but of course nothing he could do was anywhere near effective, "Please, you guys, what did I do?"

John was the one to speak then, his tone being one of ice, "I think we'll let Celina answer that one."

"What?!" He yelled, his breathing heavy and labored as Bill tied another rope around his feet and began to drag him towards the cabin, "Of course this has something to do with Celina. Everything has something to do with her. It's been that way ever since the girl shown up. What does she do for all of you anyway? Sayyyy, Micah drawed out, she's a pretty little thing. I can't blame-"

Bill kicked him in the side, earning a grunt of pain from the less fortunate man, "You watch it." He than spit on the hogtied man and began to drag him by the rope tied around his feet towards the cabin.

Arthur chuckled as he brought up the rear of the group, "Celina is going to be happy."

"You know she is," John agreed, "And to think without her, this would have never even been happening."

Javier walked ahead of the rest of them, being the first one to notice when the cabin door creaked upon. He gestured up ahead, "She's here."

Arthur smiled warmly as he watched Celina step outside. She crossed her arms over her chest, her petite frame in that moment looking rather intimidating and screaming that she meant business, "Hello boys," she laughed, "Won't you look what the cat dragged in..."

John did a double take at her behavior and looked over at Arthur, "Dude... is she, being cool?"

Arthur nodded, surprised at the icy demeanor on her that he had never witnessed before, "She is."

Celina walked towards them slowly, a bit of a spring in her step. She wasn't acting a part at all. She just, well, she felt good and to say the least, she was excited about what was going to happen. She held her knife in her hand and twirled it as she approached, "You don't look so good, Micah."

She kicked him much like Bill had, except she drug her spur across his stomach, cutting him shallowly. Micah let out a yelp, "Stop, stop, would you?! I haven't done anything."

Celina laughed and shook her head, "You've done plenty." She looked over at the boys, "Take him in and string him up. Then we'll start with having our fun."

She turned on her hell and led the five of them back inside, pointing up to a hook in the ceiling, "Right up there."

Arthur assisted Bill in lifting Micah so that Javier could tie him to the hook in the ceiling. John watched skeptically, "Are you sure this is going to hold him?"

Celina shrugged, "If not we can work something out."

Micah yelled at them, his face blood red, "You guys are sick! When Dutch finds out about this-"

Celina circled around him, eyeing him dangerously, "What makes you think," She spoke slowly, each word calculated. The four men who were fortunately on her good side had backed away slightly, looking at her with almost uneasy expressions on her face. They had never seen her like that before, very few people had, "That Dutch is ever going to find out about this?"

Micah screwed up his face at her, a desperate attempt to appear intimidating as he hung upside down by his feet, "You think he won't find out when you all return to camp without me?"

Celina looked back at the boys who had hardly said a word since they entered the cabin, all anticipating her next move, "We got that covered, our story, right?"

Bill dipped his head, "Yes ma'am, we're out killing some O'Driscolls."

Celina smiled, "Good." She looked back to Micah, "Did you hear that, rat?"

Micah squirmed, "I ain't no rat. It's someone else, I'm telling you!"

The woman pretended to think for a moment, "False." She crouched down in front of him and spoke lowly, "I know for a fact that is not true. You see, Micah... I am from the future and from the time I showed up here, I knew a lot about what you would do before you would do it. These guys, well, they know I'm telling the truth... how else would I have," She handed her knife to John and took her gloves off, "How else would I have these?" She rotated her hands so he could see the tattoos on them.

The rat jerked, "I knew it! I knew there were something about you."

The woman shrugged, "Well... yea. The thing about me is that I am very, very ticked off that you have been doing everything you could to increase the gangs bounty so that you can make a deal with the law and get off on any charges. And I'm even more appaled that it would have worked- for a while anyway." She kicked him in the stomach, "I am sickened that you have come to close to driving Dutch to his breaking point and that you would have done it if you would." She kicked him again, "I am pissed off however, that you even attempted to peg me as the bad guy and turn Dutch against me." Her lip twitched, "That if things had went the way they could have, you would have beat Arthur to death on a mountain when he was already dying of Tuberculosis."

"I ain't even done all those things. I am sorry about lying about you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please let me go and you'll never deal with me again." Micah was panicking and Celina looked back at the gang with a raised brow to see all of them looked ready to rip into him themselves.

They had decided though, that she would start the party per her request. She licked her dry lips, "Where do you think we should start?"

Arthur went to open his mouth but Celina raised her hand to stop him, apparently the question was not one meant to be answered, "I know." Celina smiled and turned back to Micah, "You're right, rat. We won't have to deal with you after today. I suggest you make things right with God now boy because you're gonna be meeting him real soon."

"No, fuck! No, no, no. I will leave! I will be gone."

Celina rolled her eyes, "That's what the captives always say... ever. You know, all you had to do was be the man Dutch thought you were. But you couldn't even do that." Her tone was emotionless, "I love Dutch. I don't think you understand that. I don't think you understood the danger you put yourself in when you crossed me."

"I'm sorry, fuck!" Micah's fear brought Celina great joy, "I will do anything. Please just give me a chance. You got to be for yourself in a world like this."

Celina took a step back, "Yeah, well, you crossed the line." She but down on her bottom lip, "You know what we're going to do, Micah?" Micah was silent so Celina went on, "Since you so enjoyed shoving your dick so far down Dutch's throat bye couldn't think straight, we're going to take care of that problem right here, right now."

Micah's eyes widened and he shook his head, realizing what Celina meant, "No, no, no, no. You're sick!" His words almost came out in a cry.

"You would almost think that I've done this before, wouldn't you?" In that moment, she was careless to the fact that there was anyone else in the room. In that moment she didn't care that she was about to spill her deepest, darkest secret, "I have." She raised her brows and shrugged carelessly, ignoring the shocked and again uneasy looks on the faces of the outlaws behind her. She was quiet for a moment as she thought back to 2015... when it had happened, "I had a brother. I loved my brother so much. He was my big brother, two years older than me. He was a great boy. Well, he had this girlfriend... She was sick. Physically sick and was dying, no one had the money for her life saving surgeries. She and my brother had been together all throughout highschool, set to be married."

Celina fought back the tears that pricked at her eyes, she had never told the story before. She thought she was over it but couldn't help but feel the surge of emotions it brought up, "My brother was a good boy, never got in trouble with the law... but he loved this girl, ok? Loved her more than the world. So... He decided he could only do one thing about it. His best friends name was Jay Kalkner..." She laughed humorlessly, "I never liked Jay... there was always something about him, you know, that just... rubbed me wrong."

Micah listened, practically able to hear his own heart beat. He continued to squirm in attempt to get down and pleaded. However, he would have been lying once more if he said he wasn't listening to the story at least somewhat. As for the four others, they remained dead silent, all interested in listening to one of Celina's stories from her past which she so rarely spoke of.

"My brother and Jay decided to go and rob a bank, and they were successful. Don't ask me how, I don't know. It was a small bank, but it paid. Thomas was excited, he was so happy he was finally going to save Ashley. She would be alright. Man, she was a good girl, a pretty girl and he had the money to save her life." Celina swallowed and shook her head, "Tom called me after they escaped the bank, called me from a burner phone. He was lucky I answered since I didn't recognize the number. He was ecstatic," she smiled fondly, "He wanted me to come and pick him up in the old junk car we kept out back so he wasn't driving the same car they left the bank in. I agreed. Heck, how could I say no?"

She licked her lips again, and took a drink of water from her canteen, "Right after we said goodbye to one another, somehow the phones wouldn't let us hang up. I noticed right away and still I think it's weird that things happened like they did but I guess the boys didn't notice it... or I should say Jay didn't notice it." She took another drink, ignoring Micah's sounds of protest and panic, "My bother yelled at Jay, asking him what he was doing. There were sounds of tires skiding across the road and sounds of a struggle. They were fighting, that much was clear and I tried telling  
yelling into the phone, tried to get them to stop but I couldn't. Finally, there was a gunshot."

Tears streamed freely down her face at that point, "Jay shot and killed Tom for the money. Tom was my best- my best friend." She choked on a sob, and the outlaws behind her hesitated, not knowing whether they should try to comfort her or leave her alone for the time being. They decided to leave her alone but concern was written clearly across all their faces.

She ran her hands through her hair, "My brother is dead, but maybe... maybe... since history has changed I can save him. I don't know. I don't know." More tears slid down her face, "So, you know what I did? I risked it all. I spent nearly a year after that tracking down Jay who had completely gotten away from the law and I strung him up. Just like you, Micah," She gestured to the rat, "In a house as well, an old abandoned one. I tortured him until he died and then I dissolved his body in acid and burned the place to the ground." She smiled as if the memory made her proud, "Didn't get caught- obviously. And the money, never knew were it went but it wasn't about the money, not anymore, it was about getting rid of the one who betrayed and killed Tom." She bit her tongue, "People try to say that revenge never makes anything better, but it does. Oh, but it does."

She smiled tightly and stood back to her feet, "The Van Der Linde gang is like family to me, don't ask me why, I can't answer that, but they are and they stand for what they believe in. They're willing to fight and die for that, that is admirable to me. So, guess who that means you remind me of, Micah?"

Micah's eyes were wide with fear, "No, Celina, please. I'm sorry about your brother. I'm not that Jay guy, please, please..."

Celina raised her brows, "But you're close enough." She used her knife to cut through Micah's belt and yanked his pants up since he was upside down, revealing his pale, small penis. She laughed and grabbed ahold of it, stretching it out, "We're just gonna chop this little feller right off. Don't worry, you won't need it, you're going to die anyway." She hesitated, "You know, I think we'll deal with that last, give you some more time to think about it."

Ignoring Micah's desperate cries, Celina turned around to face her friends, "You guys do what you want with him. But don't kill him, I get to do the honors." Instantly, she regretted revealing the story about her past that she had, none of the four men looking like they had fully recovered from the story. She tried to bring them out of the states of pity they seemed to feel for her... or anything else they felt upon finding out that information, "Umm, you guys, get with it. Don't disappoint, we've been wanting to do this." She clapped her hands together, "End the pity party and let's go."

The men all looked at her silently for another moment, none of them quite knowing what to say but they did as they were told and stepped forwards, all of them pulling out a knife.

The woman pulled up a chair and sat down out of their way as she watched the four of them carve into Micah with their knives. The man screamed in pain to the point that Celina thought he was going to pass out. She watched as blood dripped to the floor quickly creating puddles. If she let it go on much longer then he would bleed out and there would be nothing left for her to do. She stood up, "Ok, enough. Y'all are gonna kill him."

Celina studied the bloodsoaked men thoughtfully, "I didn't think that through," she gestured to their clothing in concern and laughed slightly, "You really got into it. We'll figure something out."

Arthur shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he studied the mess they had made of the rat, "Well, I suppose he had that coming."

John was silent, staring at the mess with his head hung low as if he almost felt sick towards what had been done. Bill didn't look like he cared though, and if he did, he probably enjoyed it more than not. He reached up and wiped the blood from his face, "Pig sure did squeal."

Javier was the one who seemed quite pleased with his work as he stood with the rest of the guys, eyeing where he had carved his initials into Micah's stomach and wiping his knife clean with a rag as he did so.

Celina swallowed as she looked at the men and back to Micah. They had wanted this as badly as she did, right? Had she crossed the line with them? Did she really want them to see her as a savage... what if after today they all looked at her differently? She made to take her knife out but couldn't bring herself to do it. Seeing Micah hanging by his feet, so very close to death changed her mind about making him suffer any longer.

Instead, she pulled out her revolver and fired a shot into Micah's scull, immediately taking his life. She then turned around and made eye contact with the four men, for a second, not finding her words. She felt... not as good as she expected to feel. She was happy that Micah was gone forever but she was almost disturbed with herself for arranging his death to be that terrible. She should have just hung him or put a bullet in him from the start.

She gestured to the group, "Burn this place to the ground, we don't want to take any chance of Dutch finding his body."

She walked out of the cabin then, feeling all of their gazes on her. She didn't look back but mounted her horse, not being able to help but wonder if she really had any room to be concerned even if Dutch fed Angelo Bronte to a crocodile.

...

A/N: Longggg chapter lol, thank you guys so much for patiently waiting, I appreciate it! Micah's death is officially my Christmas present to all of you and myself, I've been looking forward to writing it for a while now.

Anyway, we got to learn about another piece of Celina's past (finally) which reveals she's been through quite a lot. Also explains how she referenced hating stealing in the first chapters, brings back bad memories for the most part... at least it used to. Also explains part of why she's so loyal to the gang and why they mean so much to her.

What did all of you think about this chapter? I'm eager to read any of your questions/comments and predictions. And yes, she has officially decided to follow her heart and go back to Dutch ?

However, she kinda lost it in the cabin and only became clear-minded again when she saw how beaten Micah was. Her conscious can't help but incite some compassion... thoughts!?

Happy Holidays everyone, be safe! ?

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	37. Chapter 37

Celina rode, not knowing where she was headed but just rode. What was she supposed to say after how she had behaved in the cabin? She swallowed and shifted the reins through her sweaty, shaky hands. Her whole body felt jittery, she had lost it yet again. Celina closed her eyes, trying to fight against the tears that were building in them. She didn't want to cry, she hated crying and yet since she had been transported back in time, she found herself crying do often.

She knew what she wanted, she wanted to ride back to camp and throw herself into Dutch's arms and just make all her worries go away. She couldn't though, not at the present time. Dutch was a smart man and if she did such a thing, there is no doubt that he would connect her return with Micah's death. She had to wait, she needed to wait.

Would Dutch even still love her if he found out about what had happened to Micah? Would he forgive her for her fling with Trelawny. She brought her horse to a stop by the river and stared out over the calm water. What a mess she had made of things-everything. She looked down at her hands to see Micah's blood on them. "No," she shook her head, "No, no, no!"

Celina jumped off her horse and made her way over to the riverbank where she dropped to her knees, scrubbing the blood from her hands in the water as she cried. She thought back to Thomas, how she had lost him. Images of what she had done to Jay flashed through her mind and then Micah. Was she a monster? Had her brothers death turned her into a monster?

She shook as she sobbed voilently, unable to control herself. Who did that to someone? Strung them up and tortured them like that? Watched them die and got satisfaction out of it. What was wrong with her? Finding pleasure in Micah's screams, in Jay's screams? What-

"Oh God," she looked to the sky, lost for words and feeling nothing but disgust with herself. No one deserved death as Micah and Jay had had it and yet she delivered it to them. The look on Arthur, Bill, John and Javier's face back at that cabin. What had she done? Not even Dutch at his worst would have done something like that, at least she didn't think so. Oh Dutch, what would he think?

Her stomach contracted painfully as she cried. How would she ever look any of the gang in the eyes again? How would she look herself in the mirror again? She stared at her reflection in the river and saw herself as someone she didn't recognize, how has she lived those few years after killing Jay with no regret? Revenge, when taken to that degree? She shook her head. She felt as if the guilt of everything she ever did wrong was eating away inside of her.

"I'm a murderer." She continued to stare at herself in the river. And then it clicked, she could make it stop, if she wasn't there, the boys would be fine. With Micah gone, they'd be fine. They'd miss her for a while, sure... Dutch may hate her for the rest of his life but they would all be ok.

She took a deep, shaky breath as she withdrew her revolver and began to lift it. Would she be able to do it? She moved it under her chin, could she do it? Her hand shook and then she was interrupted, "What do you think your doing?"

She froze, the last thing she expected was to be found by Bill Williamson, "Go away, Bill." She sniffled, he wasn't supposed to have found her, not in her current state. Needless to say, Bill didn't leave.

He stepped forward slowly, "The other three sent me to check on you."

Celina shook her head, "Why would they do that?" She thought it was a good question, it would have made more since for Arthur or even John to come.

Bill hesitated, "Ok, I sent myself. None of us liked the way you left things back there." He took another hesitant step forwards, "Put the gun down, Celina. You don't really want to kill yourself."

She raised a brow, still not looking back at him, "How do you know that?"

"I just know. It's not like I ain't been there before." Bill took another step towards her, "Put the gun down, please, and lets talk about this."

Celina rolled her eyes, and felt the urge to just blow her brains out then and there, "I'm a monster, Bill. Look at what I've done. I don't even recognize myself."

Bill was quiet for a moment, not a typical characteristic of himself. He came the rest of the way up to her and held out his hand, "Give me the gun." When she didn't make a move to do so, he reached down and gently took it from her, "You ain't no monster and things happen." He looked down at her for a moment before sighing gruffly and sitting down next to her.

"How I killed Jay and Micah- yes, I am, Bill. Yes I am."

"No you ain't." Bill's response was solid, firm as if it were undeniably factual. He sat her gun on the other side of himself, keeping it well out of her reach, "Life put you in a position and you reacted, their ain't nothing wrong with that. If that Jay feller wouldn't have killed your brother and Micah would have never been a traitor, they'd still be doing alright, ain't I correct?"

Celina nodded, "Well, yea, but-"

"But nothing." Bill held eye contact with her, "It were me, Javier and John that tortured Micah anyway, not you."

"I'm the one that organized it all and told you to, it's my fault." She looked away from him, not able to look him in the eyes any longer, "How he died, it wasn't right."

"Now look here," The veteran stood to his feet and moved so he was standing directly in front of her, "None of us take orders from anyone but Dutch. Sure, we were surprised what happened... happened how it did but we did it willingly. And as far as not right, you ain't seen such a thing. What I seen in the army?" He let out a low whistle, "Micah's death don't even come close." He held out a calloused hand to help her up and she accepted, letting him pull her to get feet, "For the record, I'm glad to see the bastard dead."

She swallowed again and nodded, "I'll, I suppose I'll try to get past it." She felt rather stupid and somewhat embarrassed to have been caught in such a weak moment over something Bill so easily made seem cut and dry.

He nodded, "You should, you've got a good man back at home who loves you... Dutch an the others, they won't find out about Micah or this, not from me."

Celina offered a small smile, still too broken for it to be genuine, "Thank you, Bill. For everything." She could hardly even imagine the Bill who stood before her becoming the Bill Williamson of 1911.

Bill grunted in acknowledgement before holding out her revolver hesitantly, "Can I trust you with this?"

She nodded slightly, "Yea, I'll be fine."

He fixed her with a stern look, one of trust... one that warned her not to break his trust before handing it back to her. She took it and slipped it back into its holster as she watched him walk back out to his horse and mount up. Right before he took off, she stopped him, "Wait."

Bill looked back at her in curiosity of what she had to say and she took a deep breath as she tried to find the right words. "You," she started and sighed, "Bill, you're going to get dementia."

"What?" The tone in his voice reflected shock and denial towards the statement.

She nodded, it was hard to tell him, but she wanted him to be prepared. She climbed up on her own horse, "In 1911, this gang, it could be completely disassembled. I hope that taking Micah out of the picture would prevent that. But," She shrugged, "I just don't know. You though, as I know it, are leading your own gang, Bill. The Williamson gang."

Bill shook his head, "I ain't gonna leave Dutch."

"I'm not going to say how things happen, but they did... And the men you lead, they're really, really bad men." She licked her lips and urged her horse forward at a walk.

Bill commanded the same from his horse, "How bad of men are we talking?"

Celina shook her head. She knew that she probably shouldn't be telling him all of this but could it really hurt anything? Anyway, she wanted him to be prepared, she didn't want to see him lose himself to madness... not after the compassion he had shown her a couple times now. She was honest with him, "Rapists and Murderers... complete psychos."

Bill shook his head, "I wouldn't ever do such a thing."

"You wouldn't now." She did her best to put it softly, "And hopefully you won't ever. I just, wanted to let you know where the future could take you. I really don't think no matter how much changes that you getting dementia can be prevented. I would love to keep it from happening but it's... I'm afraid that it's outside of my control." The tone in her voice reflected great empathy, "I think it would be best if you start keeping a journal like Arthur. Just for yourself so that if you do get it... you'll have something to help keep your memories straight."

...

The talk with Bill had helped her feel a little better, for the time being at least. Now though, as she returned to lounging on Trelawny's sofa, she began to feel remorse again, a terrible feeling really. She opened her eyes when she heard him come in through the front door, "Hello handsome."

The magician chuckled, "Well hello my dear. How was your morning out with the boys?"

She shrugged, doing her best to play it cool, "It was good, always good to see them."

Trelawny raised a brow, a clear sign that he knew there was information she was intentionally withholding. He didn't press though, he hardly ever did, "If you want to talk about it, I'm sure you will." She nodded, but gave no verbal response. Trelawny went on, "Now when is it that you're going back to Dutch?"

Celina shrugged with a small laugh, "Whenever I feel like he's missed me for long enough. I want to make sure that he learns his lesson."

Josiah smiled, "I'm quite sure he has, my dear, being faced with the very possible chance of permanately losing you. I must say, I myself will miss you as well."

Celina gave a small smile to the magician, "I'll miss you too but-"

"I know." He dipped his head in agreement, "You and I, the time we spent together was good fun. I know your heart lies with Dutch... it always has and always will."

Celina nodded back at him, feeling guilty all over again at the fact that she had truly contemplated and almost went through with taking her own life. The thought concerned her whether or not she would have pulled the trigger had Bill not shown up when he had. Either way, she was grateful that he had stopped her and gave her time to realize that death was not what she truly desired.

She could hardly wrap her head around the thought that if it hadn't been for the bitter veteran, she may have not ever made her way back to Trelawny's apartment... She may have never gotten to see Dutch again... may have broken his heart if she should have taken herself from him.

Trelawny must have picked up on the fact that she had withdrawn into deep thought as he brought her out of it, "Are you sure you're ok? You seem like that may not so much be the case."

She waved him off casually, "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just kinda wondering how my return to camp is going to go... if Dutch would find out about the two of us..."

"Oh, he would be infuriated for sure. We absolutely must keep it a secret."

She chewed on her bottom lip nervously and nodded ever so slightly, "I know that." Part of her still felt guilty though at the thought of keeping her fling with the magician a secret from Dutch... even if they were broken up at the time. It just seemed... dirty to her... the thought of going back to Dutch and being with him all the while knowing that she had been with Trelawny, that the magician had had his way with her as well and that Dutch had no idea about it.

"Yeah, I won't tell him," She promised, "He doesn't need to know." Even as she said it, part of her wondered who she was trying to convince... the magician, or herself. She could do it though, she could pretend nothing had happened between Trelawny and herself- in the bedroom at least. She hated being deceitful though, so very much hated it. She only wished that Dutch would take the news better than what she thought he would.

Luckily, before she and Bill parted ways, she had convinced him to get Dutch to give up on the trolley station. She was convinced that he, Hosea, Arthur, Javier and John could get Dutch to drop the plan without revealing that she had said anything to them about it. Dutch could by no means have even the slightest clue that she was with the boys at the time of Micah's death.

All that was left to worry about at the time being was the Saint Denis bank robbery. She felt her chest tighten with anxiety at the thought of what what could hold but took a deep breath as she reminded herself that it should well and truly be fine. Micah was killed before the plan would have been solidified, therefore couldn't alert the law or anyone else on what was going to happen... still, she wanted to get back to camp before they rode out for the bank just to let them know what could happen... And to make sure that more than just Abigail had Hosea's back while he created a distraction. She was sure he would be fine and if she wasn't sure of that, there was no way that she would feel even slightly comfortable with the idea of the man who was like a father to her heading into something that he could be killed doing.

She draped her right arm over her face, her nose in the crook of her elbow as well as her eyes. It had been a while since she felt as if getting up would take all of her willpower. She liked the couch, she wanted to stay on the couch and never think of the events of the current day again. Micah was dead, and that was all that mattered... at least she kept trying to tell herself that.

She moved her arm from her face and looked at Trelawny who was reading the paper from his chair across the room, "I think I'm going to just go and take a nap."

Trelawny looked up from his paper with an expression of concern but nodded, "Ok, if you feel the need to."

Celina nodded, "I feel the need to." She draped her arm back over her face and took a deep breath, doing her best to coax herself into sleep.

...

Arthur, John and Javier stood back and watched the cabin burn to the ground, "Well, he won't be a problem anymore." Arthur's tone was flat and sarcastic as usual.

"Yeah," John hesitated, "Do you think Celina's ok? She was kinda acting not so much like herself." John still seemed uncomfortable with the events which had just happened.

Javier shrugged, "I don't know her too well, but from the sound of it, the woman's been through a lot. She was blowing off steam, I wouldn't worry about it."

Arthur nodded, "Yea, well, either way, I'm glad that Bill went after her. I still feel like I should have but," He shrugged with a sigh, "He wanted to."

"So what are we going to tell Dutch?" John was the one to ask the question.

"What we've been planning on telling him." Arthur lit up a cigarette, "We got ganged up on and Micah was killed... would explain why we have blood all over us. Say there was some knife fighting involved."

Javier lit up a cigarette as well, "I suppose we get out of here before anyone catches wind of this."

Arthur nodded at the Mexican, "Agreed."

The three of them mounted their horses at that and rode back in the direction of camp, a million thoughts going through each of their minds but above all, they felt relief, relief that Micah was gone and per Celina, things should start looking up once more.

The three of them spotted Bill on their way back who showed no urgency in getting back to camp like usual. Arthur rode up to him with the rest of them, "Bill, you aren't dying are you?"

Bill looked over his shoulder at Arthur, his face expression irritation at the others presence, "No, I'm not dying, Arthur. Just thinking."

Arthur's eyes widened dramatically, "You're thinking!? Well I never thought I'd see the day."

Bill scoffed, "Shut up."

John butted in, not exactly interested in hearing the two men bicker, "Did you find Celina?"

Bill nodded, "Yea, I found her. She's fine, heading back to Trelawny's I think."

Arthur took a deep breath and nodded, "That's good."

"Yeah." That was all the more Bill said as he thought back to the state that he had found the pretty young woman in. He still could hardly believe that she had been sitting out there by the lake, possibly about to go through with killing herself. Bill didn't care about a whole lot but even the thought of that made him feel something.

...

When the four men arrived back to camp, they all immediately snapped into their roles in the act they had to put on. Hosea watching them with a knowing eye from where he sat at the chess table. Arthur panted heavily, and hoped off his horse, "They killed Micah, they- Micah, he's gone."

"I'm sorry, Dutch, we tried," John climbed off his horse as well and started walking up to Dutch who was approaching the group who had just returned. All eyes were on them, most uncaring and some even grateful for the loss of Micah Bell.

"What?" Dutch cocked his head to the side slightly as he approached, it was if he had been physically hit by the words out of Arthur and John's mouths, "Micah's gone?"

Arthur swallowed and nodded, "Bounty hunters, they ambushed us, Dutch and we just barely got away ourselves." He gestured to their bloodsoaked clothes, "It was a fight for sure. Micah, he tried, he really tried but he-" Arthur sighed, "He just didn't make it, Dutch... we can try to go back for his body later but we had no chance of taking it and getting out alive ourselves."

Dutch looked pained at the news but nodded and drug his right hand down his face, "I am so tired of losing people. Micah." He let out a humorous, disbelieving laugh, "I can hardly believe it."

"He didn't suffer, not from what we saw anyway." John offered, attempting to make the situation at least slightly better no matter how much of a lie he was telling.

Dutch took another deep breath, the loss of his good friend hadn't quite set in yet, "I'm glad you boys all got away. I don't know what I would have done if-"

Bill and Javier climbed down from their steeds as well, Bill clapping Dutch on the shoulder as he walked by him. Javier followed Bill, going off to do who knows what. Arthur watched the two men as they left, it was hard breaking news of the current sort to Dutch.. even if it was Micah who was dead and gone, Dutch had cared for him, believed in him.

Arthur drew in another deep breath, "I'm real sorry, Dutch. I know that I gave you a real hard time about him sometimes."

Dutch nodded, still not seeming completely there, which he wasn't, he was still trying to grasp the reality that Micah was truly gone, didn't need rescued, was simply... dead, "You did, you always did." Dutch shook his head once more before turning on his heel and heading back into the house.

...

"Ok, ok." Celina tried to mentally prepare herself to go back to the gang, to go back to Dutch but couldn't help but feel shaky at the idea. She had looked Dutch square in the eyes and told him that she was leaving him and going off with Trelawny and that basically, there was nothing he could do about it. Now, she was going to go and show up at his doorstep...

She looked over her outfit once, then again and ran her fingers though her hair as if everything wasn't going to get messed up again on the ride there. Trelawny called out to her, being as supportive as ever, "Are you sure you don't want me to ride with you?"

Celina nodded and offered a small smile to the kind magician, "I really think I need to do this myself." She took another deep breath and finally stepped away from the mirror which she had been standing in front of for a bit too long, "Ok, I'm ready to go. I'm going to go do this. I'm going to go see Dutch... if he'll take me back in that is."

Trelawny chuckled, "I'm not sure he would really have a say in whether you could stay with them or not."

She shrugged with a small confident smirk, she had to admit, the poplar vote would likely allow her permanate return. She started towards the door and with her hand on the doorknob, she looked back at him one more time, "Visit us soon, I'll miss you."

Josiah smiled genuinely at her, "I will absolutely do so, my dear. You take care now."

She smiled, "You too." Then at that, the left.

...

It was almost as if Celina was on autopilot on her way back to the camp, not really paying attention to where she was going but just... going there rather naturally. A million thoughts continued buzzing through her head from the events of the prior night. She had hoped that a good night's sleep would help her to feel better about herself. Help to not feel like such a monster.

It had only taken about thirty or so seconds after she woke up for everything to come rushing back at her again. Trelawny had been concerned, of course he had been concerned, she was terrible at pretending that nothing was going on. Still, that didn't mean that she was any more willing to talk about what had happened.

One of the things that she couldn't quite wrap her head around was that of all people Bill Williamson was the one who had saved her life yesterday. She would have never in a million years expected him to show up at just the right time and show that kind of understanding, that kind of empathy towards her.

Finally, she approached the entrance to camp and sat on Bullet for a moment before hitching him up and walking the rest of the way into camp. She was home.

...

A/N: Please let me know what all of you all think about this chapter. Tried to once again make it pretty insightful. Once again a sweet moment from Bill. Thoughts?

Also, next chapter will have Celina and Dutch discussing things. Predictions?

Have a good one!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	38. Chapter 38

Celina made eye contact with Hosea who was the first one to notice her arrival back at the camp. The older man stood up and started over to her, drawing the attention of several others in the camp. Celina smiled as she made eye contact with all of them and met Hosea in the middle, drawing him into a big hug. She whispered in his ear, "Thank you for helping us."

He patted her on the back gently as they pulled away from one another, "No," he looked her in the eyes with a kind smile, "Thank you for helping us."

Celina returned the smile and scanned her gaze over everyone else who was staring at her in the camp, "I think I'm back you guys, if y'all will have me."

Of course we will, Arthur stepped forwards, "That's as long as you and Dutch don't start fighting with one another again."

Celina shook her head with a smile, "Here's hoping, all I'm worried about is Micah trying to wedge between us again." She shrugged, "I guess we'll see what happens, take it as it comes."

The corner of Arthur's mouth dipped downwards in slight feigned remorse. Before he could say anything, Bill opened his big mouth from where he sat on the fence, "Micah's dead."

"What?" Celina stepped back in shock, eyes wide, "W-when did that happen?"

"Yesterday," He continued to chew on the straw that was sticking out of his mouth, "Bounty hunters, near got me, Arthur, Javier and John too."

"Wow," Celina shook her head in disbelief, "That's, unfortunate. Can't really say I'll miss him... But, wow. I'm glad you all are ok."

"We are too," Sadie spoke up with a friendly, gentle smile at her, "Why don't you let me take you to Dutch? He's up in his- or your bedroom... at least he was."

Celina took a deep breath, this was the moment that she had been nervous about, returning to camp and seeing Dutch again, finally letting herself go back to him. She was excited, maybe a little over excited considering what he had put her through. She couldn't help it though, she loved him and she couldn't wait to see him. She only hoped that he hadn't closed himself off to her again after she had told him she was officially leaving him. Celina nodded slowly, "I guess I'll have to face him sooner or later. Might as well be now."

...

Dutch thought he could just barely hear her voice coming from outside and he could hardly believe his ears. It couldn't really be her, could it? Surely not, not after what she had said to him on the riverboat... She had to have left with Trelawny by now as much as he hated the idea. Right?

Despite himself, when the sound of her voice didn't go away, he made his way to the window in their room and peered out through the curtains. Sure enough she stood out there looking as beautiful as ever and chatting with the boys. He watched as her attention seemed to turn to Sadie and although he couldn't make out what they were saying all too clearly, it was quite obvious that Sadie was leading her back to the house to come and see him.

The notorious leader took a deep breath and smoothed his hair back, trying to make sure each strand was in its appropriate place. He was glad that he had took a trip into Saint Denis earlier that morning to take a shower, it had been a few days since he had taken the last one and God knew he needed it.

He took a deep breath and looked around the room frantically at the objects he had broken in fits over her when no one else was around. No one had been in his room since she had left, it was their room. Although she had made it clear a few days prior that she was leaving him, she was still the last one he had had sex with. He couldn't help himself, the woman was the only one he even had the slightest desire for.

Quickly, he moved all broken bottles that he could under the bed, he didn't want her to see how childish he had been in her absence, how much he had drank, how many bottles he had busted against the floor. He heard footsteps ascending the stairs and Celina and Sadie talking quietly to one another, they would, or at least Celina would be entering the room at any moment.

Quickly, the outlaw laid down comfortably in bed, crossing his long legs at the ankles and intertwining his fingers together behind his head. He didn't want to look like he was being antsy in anticipation of her arrival. Not at all, he was just... relaxing.

...

"Wish me luck, if you hear a gunshot then you know it's me who fired." Celina laughed at her own joke, getting a laugh from Sadie as well who started back down the stairs.

The slightly older woman hesitated before continuing to head downstairs, "You're sure you'll be alright?"

Celina nodded and waved her off confidently, "Of course, I'll be fine."

Sadie nodded back at her before continuing her descent down the stairs, leaving Celina right outside of Dutch's door alone. She stared at the door for a long moment, thinking about how things would go when she opened it. Would he be happy to see her? Would he be mad? She took yet another deep breath, disappointed when it didn't seem to help in the slightest. Would he even speak to her? Or would he tell her that she wasn't welcome back?

It was if she was trapped in that very moment with her thoughts, the 'What ifs' plaguing her mind. In a moment of strength, she ground her teeth together and grabbed ahold of the doorknob, pushing the door open.

She stood there in the doorway, staring at Dutch from where he lie lounged across his bed, neither one of them saying a word for a long moment. Where was she supposed to start? What was she supposed to say? Her mouth felt dry, was she supposed to say anything? Could she say anything? Or would it be better to just show him how she felt? Could she do that? She was almost ready to just turn around and talk to him later. He wasn't giving her much to go by by the emotionless look in his dark eyes which she loved so much.

Finally though, to her surprise, he broke the silence, his voice laced with sarcasm, "You don't even knock?"

Celina swallowed, "Oh, I-I." She glanced over at the door, and stepped inside the room before shutting it behind her. She took another deep breath as she tried to find the words that she wanted to use, "I think we need to talk."

Dutch lifted a brow, "Do you now? I think I recall trying to talk to you a couple different times."

She nodded, tears pricking at her eyes, "You did, you came and found me because..." She shook her head and bit back her tears, "I wasn't ready to talk yet then... I couldn't."

"I figured you'd be off pulling rabbits out of hats with Trelawny by now."

She nodded, fidgetting nervously with her hands, what was she supposed to do with her hands anyway? She tried slipping them in her pockets only to discover the pants she currently wore apparently didn't have pockets. She crossed her arms awkwardly. She was suddenly hot, really hot to the point she was sweating, "I thought I would be too but you told me you love me."

Dutch was doing the best he could not to show how thrilled he was to have her back in their room with him. He didn't just want to welcome her back with open arms, not yet. His only option to mask his happiness was to keep himself completely void of any emotion on the outside, something he was so used to doing, "And you told me you did to but you were leaving me anyway."

Celina nodded again, Dutch didn't want her back, she had blown her chance with him. He had moved on and now... now it was clear that he had no intrest in her, "I said that to protect myself, Dutch. I thought that I could force myself to move on after everything but I don't think I've ever been so horribly wrong in my life. You have no idea how hard it was for me to stay away from you after you finally said that to me." Tears pricked at her eyes, "And Arthur and Bill told me about Micah." The floodgates had broken as she reminded herself of what she had done and how much Dutch would hate her if he found out, "I'm so sorry, Dutch. I know you really cared for him. I could have been more understanding, I was just scared for you is all."

Dutch studied her for silent moment, believing there was sincerity and truth in her words. He hated to watch her cry and yet there she was crying in front of him once again. He wouldn't let up just yet, refused to, he wanted to see what her reaction would be to thinking she had lost him. He nodded slowly, "I think it would be best you let me be alone."

Celina tucked her lips in and nodded in acceptance to his words, everything was ruined, she had left thinking that she could just shut Dutch out of her heart and once she realized that wasn't the case, it was well too late. She sniffled and turned on her hell, maybe she had made the wrong choice in returning to camp afterall. Surprising herself, she found words to speak to him, "I'm sorry I came back, D-Dutch... I'm sorry." Her tone wasn't sarcastic but broken, she ran her left hand though her long black hair and walked away, heading back for the steps.

She was doing her best to keep from sobbing openly in front of him. She didn't want him to know what a mess she was because of his rejection. She was stopped though by his voice, "Would you get back in this room?"

She looked back at it in confusion, hadn't he just told her to leave? She swallowed, "You told me to go."

She thought she heard him chuckle which confused her even more, what could be possibly be laughing at? He spoke again though, this time his voice clearly sounding amused, "I am aware, and now I'm telling you to get back here. I'm not done with you."

Celina ran her fingers through her hair again, what was he trying to do? Completely break her? Because she was sure he could do that if he really wanted to. Despite herself, she turned around and entered his room again to see him still lounging on the bed, this time with a soft smile on his face. Her own face screwed up in confusion at the sudden change in his demeanor, "What's going on?"

Dutch raised a brow and got out of bed gracefully, he just slowly made his way towards her, "I am so glad you came back." His voice almost shook with sincerity, he twisted the ring on his ring finger, refusing to look at her.

Celina stood there silently, not knowing what to say or even if she should say anything at all. Dutch took the ring off of his finger and finally made eye contact with her again, "I am happy you came back almost as happy as I am you left."

She squinted her eyes, trying to make at least the slightest sense of what he was saying... or trying to say. He continued, "If you had never left, I am not sure I would have ever realized how much I love you. I- I-" he laughed, "I'm not a good man, and I'm not good at this," he gestured between the two of them, "But you make me want to be both.. and I swear on my dear mothers grave that I did not have relations with Molly during our time apart, nor with anyone else for that matter. It's you. Just you I want." Everything about Dutch's voice, posture, look on his face- everything went to show that he was being sincere. Celina would have been able to tell if he was lying. Although he was so clearly sincere, the look on his face suggested that he was also almost uncomfortable with what he was saying, as if he was surprising himself in the way he was opening up to her. He continued to speak, "After Annabelle was killed, I never thought I would love another like I- like I loved her." Dutch kept his gaze locked with hers and fidgetted with the ring he had removed from his finger, "I was wrong. Very wrong." He shook his head, "And I didn't expect to be saying what I'm saying to you now any more than two minutes ago. I know, I know I'm not the man you deserve me to be. Far from it."

Celina didn't know what to say, so she was glad that he really didn't give her much of a chance to say anything, "So, when I give this ring to you... my grandfather's ring that he bestowed unto me a good thirty years ago... I'm promising you that I am going to do everything in my power to be the man that you deserve." He hesitated for a moment before extending the ring to her.

Celina, herself hesitated a stunned moment before allowing him to drop the old but beautiful ring into the palm of her hand. She stared down at it in awe, never in her wildest dreams having expected that was taking place to happen upon returning to camp. She looked up at him with her captivating blue eyes, "You- I- I don't know what to say."

Dutch smiled warmly at her, "You don't have to say anything to me. Just, trust me."

She nodded, in that moment feeling overwhelmed beyond words, she wanted to kiss him. Before she could do so though, he backed away as if he knew what she was thinking. She couldn't help to be confused by his actions. He shook his head, confirming that he very well had known what she was fixing on doing, "Tomorrow, we will hit the Saint Denis bank. Then and only then will be quite possibly be on our way to Australia or Tahiti... maybe farrr out west. We'll see what happens. Until we get out of the danger we're in though, this," He gestured between the two of them, "Isn't going to happen." He shook his head, "It's not going to happen between myself and anyone else either but I don't want to risk hurting you and driving you away again.. not when you might not come back." He reached out and stroked his fingers though her hair, "I promise you though, I will be the man you deserve, you'll see."

...

Dutch had decided to throw a party, much to everyone's surprise he hadn't said much about Micah since the day before when he found out about the death of his fake friend. It was without doubt of course that he was doing the Dutch thing to do and doing his best to block out the pain that Micah's death caused him. Either it was that or the gang leader was just so thrilled that Celina had returned that he couldn't find it currently within himself to express sorrow over their loss.

Either way, the gang sat out in front of the house all around the campfire that night celebrating Celina's return to the gang. Celina was having a rather hard time grasping the concept of not being able to be with Dutch until he felt as if he had proved himself to her... Until he got them to a true place of safety. She only hoped that they would succeed in achieving that soon without the troubles of Guarma if at all possible.

Celina and Dutch had spent hours in their room talking that morning him holding her in his arms for a little while as they talked about the past, present and future. Celina had told him about the dangers of the Saint Denis bank robbery and expressed her concern of Hosea's safety. He had made her feel much better by stating that he would ensure the man had plenty of backup incase anything would go down even though Micah was dead and gone.

She had brought up Micah being the rat once again and he to her surprise, hadn't argued but hadn't really commented either. It was weird to see that behavior on Dutch but she had to admit that it was nice not to be arguing about Micah with him for once. She thought maybe, just maybe with Micah dead and gone and the trolley station robbery where Dutch would have hit his head never happening, that it could possibly be easier to save Dutch than she thought. That realization was followed by a wave of guilt at the thought that she had recently doubted that she would be able to save him at all. That was something that gave her hope. As she looked at Dutch standing in the front of the group, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and everything was right in the world again. Maybe they would be alright after all, all of them. They didn't have to lose anymore people. Things didn't have to get any worse than they already were.

Dutch lifted his bottle of beer to the sky, "To the return of Ms. Celina Knoll. My dear, my love, welcome back."

The night went on wonderfully, it was well and truly a warmer welcome than she could have imagined, wonderfully inappropriate songs being sung, more beer than could be drunk, more drunkards than could be managed. Celina laughed out loud when she saw Bill nearly fall out of his chair a little ways away.

Roasting food over the fire, Pearson crafting small gifts for everyone. Arthur was singing with Dutch, both of them sounding pretty good to her surprise. She looked at the partly Scottish man with so much love that she felt as if her heart would burst from being so full. Dutch had been right about it being just as good a thing that she left as that she came back. One thing was for sure, as she looked around at Dutch and her family, she knew that she would never leave again, not for the world or anything in it.

"Throw some knives with me?" Celina looked over at Javier who had just approached her and nodded with a small smile, "I should probably be a little less drunk to be throwing knives, but sounds like a good time."

Javier chuckled as he led her out to a tree on the edge of camp, a spot that would ensure no one would be hit by a poorly thrown knife. She watched him as he took his stance several yards away and chucked a knife at the center of the tree with a flick of his wrist, hitting his target perfectly.

Celina raised a brow as she stepped forwards for her turn. She mimicked a stance similar to Javier's and threw her knife, it just barely hitting the side of the tree but sticking into it efficiently. She laughed as they stepped forwards to recollect their knives, "I think I could use some practice."

"Celina," John caught her attention and waved her over, "Come here."

She dipped her head to Javier, excusing herself from their game, "I should probably go and see what he wants." She started over to John who was enjoying the party with everyone else, "What?"

He rested his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes, "I just wanted to let you know you absolutely deserve this party with how much you have done for us."

Celina smiled humbly and gave a small shake of her head, "I'm helping you guys because you're my family, I love you guys."

Feeling Dutch's gaze on her, she looked over to see him still by the campfire with several of the other guys, from the looks of it, they were probably over there telling stories. He offered her a smile which she returned before taking a seat beside Arthur on one of the logs.

Dutch continued whatever story it was he was telling inciting laughter from anyone listening, "Then there was the time when John got stuck in the well." The leader laughed himself, "Quite literally."

Celina raised her brow in interest and looked back at John who had turned beat red in embarrassment, "Common, Dutch, do you really have to tell this one?"

Dutch laughed and nodded, "I absolutely do, son. I do." He chuckled again before getting started with the story, "So, John was pretty young... probably about fifteen or so... and we couldn't find him in camp all day- anywhere. We kept looking and looking I was getting worried. We were all getting worried that maybe something awful had happened to the boy. Went out searching for him, asking everyone whether they had seen him or not. Of course no one had." Dutch fixed John with an amused smile, "Finally, Arthur ran up to me saying something about the well. Well, I would never have thought to look down there, none of us did. But," he gestured to Arthur, "Arthur was adamant that he was down there so Hosea and I went with him to look."

Arthur butted in, "I never would have found him if I wouldn't have come within three feet of the well myself. He was down there yelling for help, who knew how long but his voice hardly carried out of that place."

John laughed at himself, seeing no reason not to at that point, "I'm sure I was yelling longer than you were looking. I was convinced I was going to die down there."

Arthur laughed, "Marston always needing saving."

Dutch smirked, "So, well, after taunting him for a good ten minutes or so, we lowered a rope down there and got him out. Took him forever to live that one down."

John rolled his eyes, "Seems like I still haven't quite."

Arthur gestured to the one who always needed saving, "You never did tell us how you ended up down there."

"And I won't ever."

The rest of the party went on and Dutch graced them with a few more good stories about the good old days before the public really knew too much about them, when their bounty was so small that in all actuality, it was only Dutch who had the slightest bounty on his head.

Celina wished she could have known all of them back then, before the Blackwater fairy heist, before Micah. At that point she figured saving them would have been so much easier, she could have shot Micah on sight and prevented any of their bounties growing to the point they were at present time.

She smiled and laughed at the old stories that the gang told of better days when everything had been so much more simple. More songs ensued and more beer was drunk, games were played and jokes were pulled.

That night when she feel asleep at Dutch's side in the bed, she even had the sweetest of dreams...

...

"Billllll," Celina laughed hysterically, "Get the damn pig and let's go." She stood just outside the pigs pen, leaning on the fence and watching in amusement as the largest man in the gang tried his hardest to catch the pig that was coated in mud and still running through it. One might wonder why Bill Williamson was chasing a pig around through a pen of mud in a desperate attempt to catch it. Well... the answer was for no good reason.

That was right, for no good reason at all, you see, the gang was bored, simply bored out of their mind as they typically were every summer night around seven in the afternoon, the horses stalls had been mucked, the crops tended to, the chickens fed, the cows given water... all chores, done. Heck, their fresh crops had even sold good and fast at the farmers market earlier in the day.

Now, they were playing one of their favorite game, seeing who could wrestle the biggest pig they had to the ground the fastest with their bare hands. It was something that kept them out of trouble, something that worked and it was fun. Oh it was fun.

Celina looked at the little boy who was about three years old with Dutch's features and their black hair, and her blue eyes and then to the little boys older sister by a year or two. Her gaze then landed on Dutch who was as muddy as could be from his attempt to wrestle the pig and then at Arthur and Charles who were just as muddy, the mud caked into Charles' long hair.

Hosea sat on the fence, nearly falling into the mud himself when Bill was thrown back into the fence almost right beside him with a grunt. Life was good. For once, life was great.

...

A/N: There's the next chapter guys, hope it was up to everyone's standards and Dutch accepted her back with open arms and more. Of course he gave her a hard time at first, he had to lol. I hope you all enjoyed the sweetness betweem the two of them and the next chapter will cover the Saint Denis bank robbery.

So, what did you guys think about this chapter? I know I brought Dutch's good side out quite a bit in this one but I felt that it was due after all that's been going on between Celina and himself lately.

I'm going to try to possibly get started with the 'Imagines' today, no guarantee as it's just a side project.

On a whole other note ** spoiler warning ***

When the boys arrived back groom Guarma and all met in that cabin Charles and Sadie moved them to, did anyone else find it way too hilarious when Bill walked in and said that he was asking everyone he could if they knew where they were? ? ﾟﾘﾂ? I practically face-palmed with laughter, like that was just too funny in my opinion. Way to attract the law/trouble Bill ?

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	39. Chapter 39

Celina hopped up on Bullet around one the next afternoon, she was excited, she was giddy, she was ready to hit the bank and bring in enough money for herself and the boys to get out of there and start their new lives. There wouldn't be a rat, not now, not anymore and hopefully never again. They could finally after today work on shaking their bounties and flee.

"Are you guys coming, or not? Lets go make some moneyyy." She watched as Arthur, Bill, Dutch, Javier, John, Abigail, Lenny, Hosea, Sadie, Sean and Charles all made their way over to the horses as well, them all expressing excitement but not to the same degree as she. She couldn't help but control her excitement, this was it, this one last score and they were out... that was as long as the bank paid as well in real life as it did in RDR2.

Dutch patted The Count's neck in praise to the animal before sitting up straight in his saddle, "This should be it, you guys." He made eye contact with everyone riding with him, "Hosea, Abigail, Sadie and Charles, you all should have planned how to create the distraction we need."

"We do," Hosea climbed up on his horse as did everyone else, "No one will notice a thing."

Dutch nodded in approval, "Good, Good. That's what I want to hear. In and out and then we'll be on our way. Hopefully this will be the last score we need before we can get out of this mess of ours."

Celina smiled, looking at the entire crew as well, "Should we ride?"

Ride they did, Celina right in the front beside Dutch and Arthur where she belonged, the atmosphere was uplifting in a way that almost promised success, in a way that she could almost taste the freedom in the air. She looked over at Dutch who kept his gaze fixed ahead as he led his people into what they all hoped would be the biggest score of their lives. Robbing a city bank.

Celina shook her head, five months ago she never would have even thought that she would be robbing a bank... the thought had never even crossed her mind... well, not robbing it herself, she figured that if Thomas' plan had went through she would have played a significant part in the robbery. Now though, she was actually doing it.

Dutch glanced back at the gang as they rode, pride swelling in his chest, he said nothing to them but only to Celina, "This is going to be it."

Celina nodded in agreement, "I know, I'm sure this place will be absolutely loaded. Talking fifty grand, maybe more."

Dutch let out a low whistle, "With that kind of money we would be doing alright for quite a while."

She couldn't keep the smile off her face, "Looks like our farm might finally become a reality."

"Yeah, yeah," Arthur drawed, "let's focus on actually stealing the money first and what to do with it second."

"Hey," Bill spoke up, "They ain't hurting anything. Talking about our future."

"I would like to see you contribute into building the future, Bill." Arthur quipped back.

Celina rolled her eyes, "Would you two not bicker, please? Good Lord."

Dutch chuckled, "Even after twelve years of riding together, those two still can't go on a heist together without the bickering." He looked over at the men, "Both of you, cut it out."

Celina still couldn't wipe the smile off her face as the city came into view after what seemed like forever. This, this was going to be fun.

...

They dismounted their horses right outside of the city, the excitement in the air building at being so close to their destination, their one final heist. Dutch adjusted his vest and took a deep breath, "Hosea, go ahead and take your crew and split off from us. Get working on making that noise, there shouldn't be much law here right now, but what's here, let's draw their attention."

Hosea nodded without hesitation and split off from the rest of them with his small crew. The plan was to meet back up on the other side of the bridge leading away from Saint Denis, and out past the swamp. "Ok," Dutch took another deep breath, and looked at everyone who would be assisting his side of the robbery, "We wait for the explosion and then we head on in, let's start towards the bank now."

They all followed Dutch like the loyal soldiers they were, almost willing to follow him to the end of the earth. They tried to seem as unthreatening as possible but with the size of their group, they couldn't help but turn heads.

Celina tried to avoid making eye contact with random strangers to the best of her ability, but when they were starting at her as if their eyes were glued to her, she couldn't help but to cast them a gaze of her own. She didn't really like walking through the city in broad daylight, under the suspicious eyes of citizens. She felt... exposed.

She looked over at Javier who had whistled at one of the women who passed them by, catching her attention. Celina laughed when she sent him a dirty look and went on her way.

Javier looked over at Celina, very aware that she had laughed at his efforts, "Is that funny to you?"

"Oh, me?" She pointed to herself innocently at first before laughing again, "I thought that was hilarious. You sure do have problems with the women, don't you?"

Javier glared at her and suddenly turned the conversation on Arthur, "Not as much trouble as Arthur."

Arthur looked back at the two of them, "Shut up Javier, would wouldn't know the first of it."

Celina laughed, "To be fair, all the women like Arthur until he opens his mouth."

That made Dutch laugh and at that precise moment the explosion happened across the city. Dutch chuckled, "Good ol' Hosea, that's our cue."

At once, the group picked up their pace towards the bank and pulled their bandanas up and the ones wearing hats pulled the hats down. Celina rested her hand on her revolver, still so much more preferring it as to the sawed off shotgun she had tried to use for a little while. Needless to say, she hadn't taken well to the larger gun. She and the boys snuck around the city to the bank, going undetected due to the chaos Hosea's explosion had caused.

The group filed into the bank, at once Celina marveling at the layout of it and how similar it was to the bank in RDR2, it was a beautiful building to say the least. Dutch was of course the one to take the lead, drawing his gun and aiming it at the man behind the counter as the rest of the group filed in, aiming at random innocents in the building, "This is a robbery, everyone get down and no one will get hurt."

Bill chipped in, "No one be trying anything stupid."

Arthur quickly made his way over to a man who was standing close to the bank's safe, clearly supposed to be the one guarding it, "Open the safe, now."

The man struggled to find words, most likely trying to think of an excuse as to why he couldn't fulfill Arthur's request. Arthur set his jaw and struck the man across the face with his gun, "Do it now or people are going to start dying."

There were horrified shrieks which came out of some of tyke unfortunates who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Celina spun around to face them and aimed her weapon at them, "Shut up."

The young woman immediately attempted to do so, resorting to rocking back and forth much to Celina's irritation. She looked over at the safe to see the worker struggling to open it. Arthur himself was growing visibly impatient. Celina bit down on her lip and looked over to Javier who was cleaning out the desk in the center of the room of any cash. It was taking too long, this whole thing was taking too long and she felt her anxiety level begin to increase.

Finally the man at the vault managed to open the heavy iron door and Arthur shoved him roughly through it, "I knew you could remember that combination, why don't you open these for me as well?"

Celina made her way back to where Arthur had taken the man to see the captive trembling, "Those I-I can't open. The manager does that."

Arthur pushed him to the ground and made his way over to the smaller safes himself mumbling something under his breath about managing on his own. Celina dropped to her knees at the other end of the row of safes and smiled when Arthur looked at her in surprise, "If the game was accurate in how to crack a safe, I think I can do just fine."

Arthur nodded, "Good, we need it."

So, they sat he on one end of the row and she on the other and went to work. Celina pushed her ear against the safe, listening to the clicks of the lock to determine when to stop and turn in the opposite direction. Luckily, the techinque worked perfectly and she stopped to stare at the huge piles of cash for a second, it was more than she suspected and she let out a low whistle, "There's a ton in here, Arthur."

Arthur nodded, peering into the safe which he had just broken into himself, "Same over here, we're going to be sitting good, real good."

They each stuffed the money into the bags which they had brought with them before moving onto the next safe and loading up the bags with the money in the two of them as well. They were interrupted from each moving onto their third safe by Bill, "That's got to be enough whatever you have, the law is heading back this way and it's more than we were expecting."

Celina felt a feeling of dread wash over her, "No," she shook her head and stood to her feet, it couldn't be, could it? How could the law be ganging up on them already after such a big explosion? She swallowed but nodded, feeling sick to her stomach as she tried to think of what could have went wrong to cause the law to begin to close in on them, "Where's Hosea?"

Bill shrugged, "He's probably fled from the city by now."

She closed her eyes, "I would hope... ok, ok, let's go, let's get out of here."

Arthur picked his sack of money up off the ground as well as Celina's and slung both of them over his shoulders, "We should have enough here, there's only two safes left, we got four cleared out."

Bill nodded, "Good, now common, we're gonna have to fight our way out of here and it ain't going to be pretty."

The three of them took cover to the sides of the windows after knocking them out with their elbows. Celina crouched between Bill and Arthur, fearfully trying to prepare herself for the worst.

The law poured in fast, too fast for her comfort which didn't make much sense considering Micah was well dead and gone she fired out a shot, hitting one of the approaching law men right in the center of his head. She fired at another and then another, watching as bodies dropped rapidly, luckily none of the bodies being their own.

Also, she figured that if the law had managed to grab ahold of Hosea or any of the others, they would know if by then. That thought gave her hope that she was right in thinking that by what she had changed, Hosea was safe. She vaguely heard Dutch call out to Arthur over the sound of gunfire, yelling at him to come to him where he had taken cover behind the large desk which Javier had previously looted.

She glanced over at Bill as the two of them continued to fire at their opponents when he spoke, "I don't see how we're ever going to get out of here... what do you think?"

Celina shot one of the lawman directly in the chest when he came out of cover, "I," she shook her head, "Dutch and Arthur will figure it out."

"Lotta faith in them, for you being the one from the future."

Celina shrugged and fired at another man, "I don't see how I really have much of a choice other than to have some faith." From where she was hidden from view of the outside, she looked over at the desk to see Arthur sneaking oit from behind it with dynamyte in his hand and heading to the back wall of the bank. She shook her head and fired a few more shots at the lawmen, "Hopefully this will work."

Soon enough, there was an explosion and the back wall crumbled, Arthur taking cover again just in time to avoid being injured in the explosion. Dutch called out to the gang as he followed him out, "Everyone follow us, one at a time. We have got to get out of here and fast. The amount of law," he shook his head.

Celina followed after the two of them first, being third to exit the building. She kept her fingers crossed for everyone's safety as she did so. She couldn't help but feel like it was partially her fault that they were all in the position they were currently in, she should have tried to talk Dutch out of the Saint Denis bank robbery... not just tell him that they had to be careful.

Still, as she climbed up the ladder leading up the apartments after Dutch, she couldn't help but feel like the law showing up so quickly wasn't weird, real weird... almost like they had been tipped off... almost like the gang had been set up even in Micah's absence. Could there possibly be a rat other than Micah in the group?

Celina chewed on her bottom lip as she hoped that there wasn't anyone betraying the gang. Why would someone do such a thing? The law being so alert had to just be a coincidence, right? It was the city after all, it would make since for the law to be able to show up quick.

She crouched down once they were on the roof, looking behind her and to her relief seeing that John was there with the rest of them. If he had almost been captured, Dutch had saved him, prevented it from happening and that caused Celina's heart to feel like it was swelling with happiness. That was a good sign if that was the case, a very good sign.

She crept after Arthur who Dutch had taken the lead from, doing her best to stay out of the eye of the law. In 2018, she respected the law, admired cops even, but once she came to 1899 and realized how different things were, she found that she actually hated the law. At least the law in 1899 anyway.

Spending so much time in 2018 playing RDR2 and then actually being transported back to the time period in which the events of the game had actually took place opened her eyes more than she could ever imagined. From both of those things she found that her mindset had changed in a way that had her siding with the gang largely over the law and the mindset seeemed to get stronger and stronger as time went on.

Who was the law really to dictate how they should live and what was right from what was wrong. There were morals and religion in which people followed as guidance to their lives which Celina didn't have a problem with..  
People needed that, they had to have it to avoid losing themselves to savagery... but to have other people setting rules of how they should live? It was rediculous.

America was supposed to be a free country and really, how was it? False advertising was what it was. Laws, were everywhere, who were people to make laws? Who were law officials to choose who lived and died? Who were law officials to lock people up for punishment of their actions and force people into labor for them? They were hypocrites, that's what they were! And in the 1800's and a large portion of the early 1900's, Celina truly found herself believing the law- the entire government was corrupt and she would have no part of it. From everything she knew about the 1800's- through mid 1900's, there was nothing that made her want to comply with the rules, the laws during those time periods.

It was all a lie, freedom.. it was all a lie hiding the corruption and greed for both money and power of the government. As for she and the gang? They would fight for freedom from the law until they took their last breath. What was life truly if you weren't free? Their stealing wasn't about greed, it was simply about getting by without the law and government they so truly hated hanging over their heads. Try to take an honest job and they'd be trapped by the government just like that. Freedom was to have the world at their fingertips.

They didn't want to hurt anyone, not even the law officials... maybe the O'Driscolls, but no one else. They didn't intentionally start fights, they just ended them, they had to defend themselves just as anyone else would. Celina found herself wishing that people knew that, knew their hearts. They weren't evil people, they weren't terrible people, just people who saw things for how they really were. And were they going to Hell? Maybe... but hell really couldn't be as bad as it was cracked up to be, right? It had to be a scare tactic. She found herself to be more of a believer in purgatory until they had corrected their wrongs after death, a place which of course wouldn't be great but wouldn't be terrible.

She fired at a law official who was firing at them from a roof across from them and hit him in the thigh, well off from her target which was his stomach. She cringed as he fell to the ground, that had to hurt.

Celina jumped down to the next rooftop lightly, still feeling like they were all in this position because she had given Dutch her approval in executing this plan. He had trusted her judgement and she had told him things should be ok and to go ahead with it. She shook her head to herself knowing that she should have known better. If anyone got hurt, or worse it wouldn't be anyone's fault except her own. That would just be one more burden to bear.

Coming from well behind her was Javier's voice, he obviously having got a good look at the ground based on his words, "Law is all over the place."

"Yeah," John agreed, "How are we ever going to get out of this, Dutch?"

Dutch glanced back at them briefly, a look of uncertainty on his face, "I don't quite know, boys... I don't know."

Celina frowned slightly at the sound of defeat in the leaders voice, if she would have never said it would be ok for them to do this, she honestly believed that Dutch would have listened to her and that they would at that moment, be doing something quite a bit less risky. There wasn't much nervier than to rob a city bank, let alone in broad daylight.

It felt like they were sneaking across rooftops for a while although in all actuality, Celina didn't think it really took them too long to arrive at the final rooftop, luckily, without incident as well. She found herself glancing behind herself several times to ensure that Lenny was alive and breathing and she felt relief wash over her every time she saw that he was fine and healthy.

Dutch slowly approached the window which had a wooden plank going across it and lifted it slowly before forcing the half-open window open the rest of the way and turning back to the gang, "Everyone let's climb on in here."

Without argument, they all did just that, filing in slowly and quietly one at a time, Dutch entering last after seeing that everyone was safe inside and shutting the window after pulling the wooden plank back to the position it was in prior to their arrival. He looked back at all of them, a look of accomplishment on his face, "We did it." He raised his hands to the ceiling in victory and laughed in triumph, "We're not quite out of the woods yet, but we did it."

Everyone seemed to relax at the feeling of relative safety that the room provided them. Celina was the one who ran a hand though her hair and shook her head with uncertainty. She made her way over to Dutch, "Can I speak to you for a moment, please?"

Dutch looked rather confused at her request but nodded, opening the window and stepping out onto the roof with her again, giving them privacy from everyone else, "What's going on?"

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping the feeling she was having would turn out to be nothing, "We have the money and we haven't lost anyone yet... That we know of. I just can't help but feel like maybe I shouldn't have suggested we go through with this. If something happens, if something bad happens, it is all going to be my fault for encouraging all of you to go through with this robbery. I thought everything would be ok, that we'd all be ok and get away without any losses, but... but I can't help but feel uneasy. Something... Something just isn't feeling right. All of this aside from Lenny and Hosea's avoided deaths feels... just feels too familiar for my liking."

Dutch crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her for a moment in silence. Of course he was silent for a moment as he thought of what to say. He was suddenly more worried than he had been a few moments ago... with reason too. Who wouldn't be worried when the person from the future expressed concern and claimed that something just didn't feel right? Finally, he spoke, "We'll be careful, count our money and not rush on the way out of here."

She nodded slowly, hoping that would ensure all of them safety in their escape, "I just, I had to give you a heads up, Dutch. I've seen... Something similar as to how things could go.. I don't want things to get ugly, I don't want to lose anyone."

The leader took a deep breath himself, "Neither do I. We should get back in there though. The last thing we need is to be spotted."

Celina agreed to that with a nod and the two of them entered the building through the window once again, Dutch securing it behind them and clapping his hands together in attempt to break the tension and pull everyone out from their thoughts, "We'll lay low here for a little while until the law settles down and then head out."

Arthur looked up from one of the sacks of money of which he was trying to count the value inside. In front of him sat a decent couple stacks of cash, "There's five thousand just right there and that's only a small portion to the rest in the bags."

Dutch looked impressed, "That's what I like to see, son. That is what I like to see. As soon as we can get out of this awful city we'll meet up with Hosea, bless his heart how I hope he's ok... then we'll work out what to do from there."

Celina closed her eyes in a slightly extended blink at the mention of Hosea, hoping with every fiber of her being that the wonderful older man was still alive and well. If her acceptance of the bank robbery plan had cost him his life, she never thought she would be able to forgive herself.

It was John who spoke up before anyone else, "I thought we already had a plan as to what comes next. I thought that was the whole point of pulling off such a big heist, to get to where we're going faster."

Dutch dipped his head in acknowledgement to his statement, "We have an idea. Go to Australia, Tahiti, way out west if we can manage. The plan comes once we find out what kind of situation we're looking at once we're out of here. Things such as where would be safe, how much money we have avalible, which location would really be best for us... that's when we plan. Once we know for sure we're all safe, we'll develop a solid plan."

Celina attempted to make herself comfortable by sitting with her back to the wall. She locked gazes with Dutch in a non-challenging manner, "I think we should leave the country for sure as much as I hate to say it. I think it would be safer that way rather than to risk being found at random by the law and potentially having to pick up our lives and start running again. I mean, who wants to worry about the chances- although slim depending on where we're hiding, of being found?"

Of course as she said this she was thinking about the potential events of the future such as John being found by the law when living in Blackwater and being forced to hunt down Bill, Javier and Dutch. She figured that maybe if the gang left the country as a whole, maybe those terrible events would never come to be... maybe the gang would never fall apart at any point in time. Maybe.

...

A/N: There's the update for the night! So, there's definately some action going on in this chapter and really I wanted to use this one to cover all of the Saint Denis events regarding the bank robbery but there's quite a bit more to write regarding it and if I hadn't stopped where I did for now I'm sure I could have easily turned this into a 6-7k word chapter... That said, I'll save some for the next chapter.

Anyway, still a long chapter as it is and I would very much love to be able to read any and all of your questions/comments and any predictions at this point as they truly inspire me to write.

Hope everyone enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	40. Chapter 40

"So, the total take is sixty-seven thousand dollars." Celina was to announce this rather proudly as she, Arthur and John stuffed the cash back into the bags.

Dutch whistled lowly with a satisfied shake of his head, "That, is enough." His voice was full of hope, "We, my friends are getting out of here. Getting out of this mess that we're in once and for all."

Celina couldn't help but feel hope soar in her heart at the thought of finally achieving true freedom with the gang. Still, something just... Something just didn't feel quite right. Was she really the only one who had this feeling? Or was she just paranoid because she wasn't used to things being so easy?

She stood to her feet and stretched, "So, what are we going to do while we're waiting to move?"

Bill was silent for a moment, "We could play a game."

Arthur scoffed, "I was going to suggest we get some sleep until the coast is clear, but sure Bill, we can play a game. Leave it to you to want to play a game. What do you suggest?" Arthur's voice was laced with sarcasm as usual.

Bill shrugged, "Well I don't know." He took on a tone of defense, "Whenever I have an idea you act like it's so stupid."

"Welll-" Arthur started.

Celina cut him off, "Would you quit? It's not a bad idea. I actually have a game we can play, it's called Never Have I Ever."

"Never have I ever?" Arthur looked as confused as everyone else at the name of the game.

Celina nodded with a knowing smile, it wasn't likely that the game existed in 1899, "Yep, Never how I ever. What we do is all take turns saying something that we've never done and then whoever has done it has to raise their hand.. normally whoever has done it has to take a drink of alcohol... but since we don't currently have it available to us..."

"Ok," Dutch nodded, seeming at least moderately interested in the game, "You start us off then."

It took Celina a moment to think of a topic, "Never have I ever eaten raw meat." She knew that would be a good one to start with considering the year they were in and the company she kept. She figured that quite a few of them had probably done that at some point, regardless how disgusting it would be.

Everyone in the room raised a hand except for Dutch who looked at all of them like he couldn't believe it, "You're telling me that all of you boys have been too lazy to cook yourselves a proper meal at some point?"

Javier shrugged from where he sat on a chair in the corner of the room, "At some point."

Celina laughed, "Now, I get to choose someone to think of the next one." She looked around the room in search of someone to go next and finally decided, "Javier."

"What?" He groaned, "Ok... never have I ever stolen livestock, other than horses if you count em." Arthur and John raised their hands, getting a few laughs out of the group, "Your turn, Arthur."

Arthur took a good look around at all of them before taking his turn, "Never have I ever... umm, Never have I ever cheated on a woman."

Javier, Sean, John and Bill all raised their hands, Celina looking at them with wide eyes, "You guys are jerks. And John, that's disappointing, was it Abbigail you cheated on?"

John looked down at his feet, "A time or two."

Arthur shook his head, "Ok, your turn, John."

John crossed his arms over his chest, "Never have I ever shot someone by accident."

Celina looked around the room with intrest, seeing who would and wouldn't raise their hand. She raised a brow when Arthur raised his hand along with Bill, "Ok, you guys have got to tell the story behind what happened with that."

Arthur laughed, "Why don't you ask Dutch? He's the one I shot."

Shock came across her face and the group bursted into laughter at the thought of what that would have been like or possibly as they recalled the memory of it. Ceoina looked over to Dutch who was leaning against the wall, shaking his head. Bill was the one who spoke though, pointing at Arthur accusingly, "You're telling me that you accidentally shot Dutch before and you still give me crap about my mistakes?"

Arthur shrugged with a small smile, "Just one of those things."

Bill's eyes widened at the phrase Arthur used to get out of trouble for everything, "Oh, common!"

Celina laughed harder than she had in a long time at the ineraction between the two adult men. It was as if they were still teenagers at times. She addressed Dutch again, "So, are you going to enlighten us as to what happened that caused Arthur to shoot you?"

Dutch chuckled, "It was back when Arthur was pretty young, around eighteen maybe. Anyway, we were out hiding from some law men who had caught wind of us, Hosea was with us too. So, we were hiding and I decided that I was going to go out and scout ahead, Arthur was still learning things and Hosea had twisted his ankle so I was the best bet. I go out there and see that the law has backed off and on my way back Arthur must have thought I were a law man because he shot me in the shoulder! Lucky he missed his mark or I would have been dead."

Arthur shook his head, face beat red at the memory, "Of course you leave out the part where I hardly left your side until you recovered." He laughed at himself, "I felt so terrible."

Dutch laughed, it all seeming to be a humorous memory in present time, "Son, I think you were scared to touch your gun for a month. Poor Hosea, I think you had about given him a heart attack."

Everyone laughed harder as they pictured the events unfolding as Dutch recalled them, Arthur's face remaining as red as a tomato. John gestured to Dutch, "What about you, Dutch? Do you have one?"

Dutch twisted the ring which he still wore, "I'm sure I can think of something... never have I ever..."

...

"Do you think it's safe for us to head out yet?" John looked to Dutch for an answer as the two of them stood on opposite sides of the window and discretely peered out upon the streets.

Night had fallen after a playing games for a while, then talking to pass time and frankly, everyone in the room was ready to leave the city behind for good. They had their money and they were ready to leave. Dutch nodded, surveying the streets himself, "I think we can make a break for it. The law has quieted down quite a bit."

Celina walked over to the window as well and shook her head, "No, not yet. I want to stay here a little longer, just to be safe. They haven't found us here yet, no point in rushing out at first chance and risking things." She kept her voice low, "None of us want to end up on our way to Guarma."

John looked interested, "Guarma?"

She nodded, "It's an awful place, nothing like Australia or Tahiti. And really, I'd prefer Tahiti over Australia any day, as far as I know there are way too many things in Australia that can kill you. Our luck we would escape this country only to die by the bites of killer spiders."

Dutch and John were both quiet for a moment but Dutch broke the brief silence, "Ok, so Tahiti it is... would you give it another hour or so?"

Celina tilted her head to the side slightly in thought, "I would probably give it at least another two hours.."

John seemed uncertain, "If we go out when it's too well into the night then that will look awfully suspicious."

Celina shrugged, "If we go out now the chances of us actually being recognized will be higher. Pick your poison."

Dutch sighed, "In a couple hours it is."

"So," Celina clapped her hands together and turned around to face everyone else, "I guess we're going to wait a couple more hours before we head out."

Sean yawned and took his jacket off, piling it up on the floor and laying down, using it as a makeshift pillow, "When you tards decide that this ain't the fancy livin yer after, wake me up." The Irish boy closed his eyes and turned his back towards all of them to face the wall in an attempt to go to sleep.

Arthur pointed at him, "Actually, that ain't a bad idea. I think I just might do that myself."

Dutch leaned against the wall, yawning himself, "Alright, all of you go ahead and get the sleep you can. I'll stay up and keep watch. It really shouldn't be to long before we're out of here."

Celina gave him a small smile and yawned herself, "Are you sure?"

Dutch nodded, "Yes, I am sure. It's my job to look after all of your best interests and you all so obviously need sleep."

Celina shook her head, "I want to stay up, with you."

He smiled, "As you wish."

...

It didn't take long for anyone but Bill to fall asleep, Celina watched at the man jumped violently every time he was falling into sleep and then jolted straight up and looked around to ensure he was where he thought he was. Of course neither Celina nor Dutch gave any hint that they had witnessed the trouble he was having in sleeping. At least no hint to Bill that they were watching what he was going through. Celina kept her voice at a whisper from where she sat beside Dutch, glancing at veteran periodically with some empathy, "It's PTSD, isn't it?"

Dutch nodded, with a slight frown, "He's struggled with it for all twelve years that I've known him. It's sad really, the sacrifices he's made for this country only to have them be the ones trying to take away his freedom."

Celina looked down at the ground, remembering back to only a couple days ago when the rough around the edges veteran had saved her life. She almost wished she could give him the credit he deserved for saving her, for seeing that she was still with them now. Actually, she felt rather guilty that when she was in 2018 She hadn't ever really cared for Bill with how he was portrayed in RDR2... or the first game for that matter. It was truly eye-opening to get to know him as a person and realize his level of complexity. Even with all of those thoughts running through her mind, her response was short, "It is."

She rested her head on Dutch's shoulder and the next thing she knew, she was being gently shaken awake, "Common Celina, we've got to get moving, it's been nearly two hours."

Celina opened her eyes slowly and rubbed at them to help her eyes adjust so she could see more clearly, everyone else was stirring, waking up as well. Obviously, they were way more used to waking up at Dutch's command than she was. How she hated being a heavy sleeper at times. She let out a yawn as she forced herself to her feet, Dutch standing up as she did, "Everyone, take a moment to collect yourselves, we're going to be heading out here before long."

Celina made her way over to the window still in a state of groginess and looked down at the street, searching for anything that made her feel uncomfortable. She licked her lips and nodded feeling as if they had waited long enough and everyone would made it out safe and without incident. She glanced over at Dutch, "It looks good out there. I see maybe two law men down the street a ways... they have flashlights. I think we can all make it."

Dutch nodded at her, trusting her judgement as if it were his own, "Ok, you all heard her. Let's get out of here, back to camp and then we'll work on getting to Tahiti tomorrow morning."

Everyone either nodded or gave a verbal agreement as Dutch walked back over to the window that led out to the roof and opened it, motioning everyone to climb outside. They all did so without a moments hesitation, more sick of that small room than they had been of anything in a while.

Celina was the last one out, feeling her stomach twisting with uneasiness once again. She made eye contact with Dutch, when he placed a hand on her back in concern, "I still feel like something's wrong."

"Do you think we should stay longer?" His question was sincere and it warmed her heart the amount of effort he was putting forth to try to make her feel like her call was important to him. Really, he acted like it was.

She shook her head though, "No, it should be alright... their ain't much law around as far as it seems. I think I'm probably just paranoid, we can't stay holed up forever... we just need to be careful."

The expression of concern didn't leave Dutch's handsome face but he nodded anyway, not willing to fight with her. In the time he had to think over his treatment of her in her absence, he had come to the conclusion that she probably did know what was safe as opposed to dangerous better than the rest of them. He just had to take a deep breath sometimes and remind himself of that, "We'll be careful. He assured her and himself, we'll always be careful."

Dutch took the lead once more, leading the gang across the roofs of buildings towards the edge of the town. They took their time and made slow progress in an attempt to go undetected by the few law men whom they were sure we're still lurking about.

The air was bitter cold even with the fact that heat rises. It was in fact so cold that it wasn't long before Celina had trouble feeling her fingers and her nose began to run to the point that it was simply annoying. She wiped at her nose with her sleeve and took cover with the rest of the gang when they spotted law up ahead on the next rooftop.

Dutch gestured to Arthur and the younger outlaw crept up to him, "Go up there with John and Javier and take those boys out silently. It would be a shame to get this far and cause commotion."

Arthur nodded and snuck back to ask Javier and John to go with him. Celina watched nervously as the three men snuck up on the law and took them out with their knives. She let herself breathe again only once all three of the law were clearly dead. Dutch led them forwards after that and Celina pointed to a ladder leading down the side of the building which the others must have missed, "Don't you think we can go down to the ground from here? We're almost through the city. Don't know when there's going to be another ladder."

Dutch turned around and looked at the ladder which she was pointing to, "We could use it, I'm sure there's got to be another one up ahead though."

Celina wasn't so certain, "Let's just take this one, I would feel better if we were on the ground before we're out in the open where we won't be able to take cover right away if needed."

"Alright," Dutch gestured, "Have it your way then."

Celina hesitated a second before creeping over to the ladder, wondering if Dutch's consent was genuine or bitter. Sometimes with him it was hard to tell. Slowly, she made her way down the ladder, taking cover at the side of the building and waiting for the rest of the group to come down.

Arthur threw threw sac of money he carried down to Dutch who caught it easily, then John throwing the one he had to Arthur as he climbed down himself. The group all took cover at the side of the nearest building with Celina and surveyed their surroundings the best they could without flashlights through the darkness. .

Celina smiled at the boys, "See? We did it." She stepped out of cover slightly to get a better look at were law could be standing. Before she knew it, the light of a flashlight was shown on her.

"There they are!" It seemed that a good portion of the rest of the gang was spotted too, "The folks who robbed the bank! Shoot them!"

At once, the gang took off, running in the opposite direction of the law and taking cover as quickly as possible, drawing their guns and ready to fight. Celina took cover behind a stack of crates beside Arthur, firing at the approaching law, "I should have never choosen to take that ladder. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry Arthur."

Arthur shook his head, "That's nonsense, you couldn't have known what we were walking into."

"Dutch let me make the call as to whether or not we would rob the bank and if we lose anyone in this it's all on me." Celina fired again.

"At least there's not a lot of law." Arthur took out the final guy and they all were quiet for a moment. Dutch shouted, "Out to the horses, now!"

Everyone obeyed immediately, the group immediately running out of cover again, firing at the law which was running down the street towards them. Celina fired at a man who lifted his gun to fire at Arthur just begore he could squeeze the trigger. Focused on her shot, she was blindsided when a bullet came whizzing towards her.

At first, she didn't feel it and she thought it was strange, the way the boys were all yelling at her like it was the end of the world. She fired off another shot, killing one of the closest lawmen before she registered that her stomach felt strangely warm and wet, she reached down, placing her hand on her stomach as the boys fired around her, keeping her safe of any shooters.

Her brow furrowed in confusion when warm, almost sticky liquid coated her hand and she pulled it away slowly, her vision beginning to fade out and go black. The last thing she felt was the feeling of being sweeped off her feet.

As she went back and forth between being concious and unconscious, she could just barely register that she was on the back of someone's horse. Who? She didn't know, but she was on someone's. Still, she couldn't quite process what had happened nor why her stomach hurt more than anything she could imagine as it did or why she was so tired. She relied on the voices of the gang to try to figure out what had happened through her pain. Her vision, no matter how hard she tried to see clearly was terribly out of focus.

"Would you stop asking if she's ok? She was shot in the stomach, Bill for God's sake!" That voice came from Arthur... at least she thought it was Arthur's voice... It sure did sound like him.

"We get her back home and we get that bullet out of her," That was Dutch, "She'll never make it through the night if she has it rattling around inside of her. She needs stitched up before she bleeds out."

She could just barely feel whoever she was riding with pull her arms tighter around their waist in attempt to help her stay on the horse. She clutched at their shirt weakly and then they spoke, revealing themselves as Javier, "She's awake just barely I think. Celina?"

She struggled to find her words, "I'm, I-"

"Hush love," it was Dutch who spoke, it would only make sense for it to be Dutch who spoke, "Save your energy for staying with us."

...

Dutch rode alongside Javier who had Celina on the back of his horse, her arms wrapped around his torso and her almost lifeless hands grasping at his shirt in attempt to stay balanced. Why had she had to agree to the bank robbery? Why had he even wanted to go through with the bank robbery after she told him what could happen during it? She had seemed certain that it would all be alright. She had seemed so convinced and now this?

He could hardly take his eyes off her, he was terrified that he was going lose her and he couldn't imagine how he'd live with that. She, she aside from the gang was everything to him. He loved her so dear. Why hadn't he just told her no about the ladder? He had wanted to. He had wanted to get to the very edge of the city before coming down from the roof but he had let her change his mind. If she died, it was all on him.

To make it worse, Bill kept talking as if he could speak her into being ok. When he wasn't trying to speak her into being ok, he was asking if she was ok. Dutch could hardly take it, he knew that Bill meant well but he just needed a moment of silence. He just needed a moment to think.

Bill opened his mouth again, "I think she'll be ok, Dutch. She just needs rest is all."

That was it, Dutch had had it. He turned around in his saddle, finally cracking under the possibility of losing Celina along with not knowing where Hosea, Charles, Sadie and Abigail were or if they were even alive, "Would you shut up, Bill?!" His words came out in a roar that shut the veteran up immediately.

Bill stared at Celina's back, that being the best view he could get of the girl from that angle, "She ain't done nothing wrong." Bill said a heck of a lot quiter to himself. She was one of the best of them, he thought and she was facing potentially dying over something as stupid as a bank robbery. He took a deep breath, that girl, if they went and lost her...

John looked over at Bill who finally shut up after being yelled at more harshly than he deserved by Dutch. He saw the largest man in the group's mouth move as he said something under his breath to himself. John shook his head, finding facing reality all too painful in that moment. It almost seemed unreal how fast the tables had turned on them, one moment they were hiding out not having such a terrible night, playing games. Then the next they had thought they were free, all to be led up to this very moment. John clenched his jaw, after all she had done for the gang, after the incredible amount of loyalty she had shown them all, what had it gotten her?

Lenny rode up next to Arthur, speaking loud enough so that Arthur could hear him clearly but likely not anyone else, "She's got to be ok, Arthur."

Arthur nodded, daring to look over at the woman who managed to open her eyes periodically, "She's strong, she'll be alright." Arthur forced himself to think of his more positive memories of her, "I taught her to shoot, you know? And she ain't half bad."

Lenny smiled, "What about the time the three of us got drunk as heck and ended up in jail in Valentine?"

Arthur laughed as he recalled that memory, "Yeah, she'll be ok. You know, she hasn't been with us a whole long time..."

Lenny finished his sentence, "But she belongs with us."

Arthur nodded, "She does belong with us... with Dutch... She just, things are better with her around. I wish she would have became a part of the gang sooner."

...

Eventually they rolled into camp, Celina still just barely clinging onto life and Hosea coming rushing up to them upon their arrival much to everyone's relief to see him alive and well, "There you all are! We were waiting for you but had to leave due to the law, you guys were taking too-" he stopped in the middle of his sentence when he saw Celina being carefully removed from the back of Javier's horse by Dutch, "Oh dear, what happened?"

"She's been shot. In the stomach." Arthur's answer was cut and dry, not currently caring about the fear in Hosea's voice but only about Celina's condition. Arthur climbed down from his horse and followed Dutch towards the house, everyone else who had been with Celina at the time she was shot following as well. Hosea, however immediately sprinted ahead, holding the heavy wooden door of the house open for Dutch who carried her bridal style, "Put her on the couch, Dutch."

Dutch did as told by Hosea, laying Celina on the couch gently and putting a pillow behind her head before dropping to his knees beside her, the gang members gathering around the couch in concern but giving Dutch and his injured woman plenty of room.

Hosea leaned out the door and  
yelled for the only person they really had to get the bullet out of her, "Pearson, come in here, quick! We need you."

Dutch looked at Hosea in horror, "How the hell do you expect the butcher to help?"

Hosea turned back around and fixed Dutch with a ' don't question me' stare, "He's our only option, our best option unless you think another one of us is more qualified or you think you can fetch a doctor before she bleeds out and dies."

Dutch's eye's widened and he shook his head before looking back at Celina and pressing a kiss to her forehead and moving out of the way just as Pearson ran into the room from outside, looking at the scene before him in shock.

...

A/N: I am very aware that the chapters lately have been pretty dark and Celina is in a really bad place right now but I absolutely feel like her getting shot was necessary to the story line. So hang in with me through this and we'll see what happens in the next chapter. This was a rather hard chapter for me to write but I'm happy I did it and I am excited to be putting it out there for all of you to read.

At least 'Never Have I Ever' was fun though, right? I needed something to lighten the chapter a bit and I appreciate all of your suggestions, that really helped. I almost had Bill out his crush on Celina by saying spin the bottle before he realized the male to female ratio in the room lol but figured that would be stupid so didn't do it. That game probably didn't exist back then anyway ?

But funny story about Arthur accidentally shooting Dutch lol and Arthur's 'just one of those things' justifications ?

Anyway, I would love some feedback on this chapter if and when you guys get the chance. It won't stay dark forever!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	41. Chapter 41

"Get on out of here," Hosea ordered to the gang as they initially only made room for Pearson to do what he had to do, "You can't tell me you all really want to stay around for this, it ain't gonna be pretty."

Dutch refused to move from the side of the couch, "I'm staying, the rest of you give us some space would you? And someone get her some whisky or something, she's gonna need it." Dutch's voice sounded distant- troubled as he looked down at the woman he loved.

Arthur stepped forwards from where he stood by Sadie Adler with his arm around her waist, "I'm staying too, if we lose her, she needs to know we're there... not that we're in the next room over."

Dutch shook his head, "Just, stay out of the way then, and keep quiet, would you?" He shook his head, he was too emotionally exhausted to argue and apparently so was Hosea who just held a look of dread on his face. It made the situation even heavier to see that the older man didn't seem to have much hope.

Bill broke apart from the group and started across the room, "Don't do anything yet, I'm getting that whisky."

John leaned on the back of the couch, looking down at Celina with sorrow, "You know, if it weren't for her, things would be a lot diffrent by now."

Dutch glanced at John, "They would."

John shook his head and backed up when he saw Bill come back into the room with the whisky he had promised, "I'm sorry to be the first one to say this but I- I don't think I can watch." Everyone made room for John to walk away, and Lenny followed, then Javier to everyone's surprise.

Bill handed a bottle to Hosea who was at Pearsons side, Dutch hanging back to give them some room, "Do you think she'll be ok?"

Pearson looked up at him with a heavy sigh, "I ain't no doctor, but I'll do my best."

Dutch stared at Bill silently before looking at the others who were gathered around the room, not being able to muster the motivation to say a word to anyone. His defeated gaze dropped back down to Celina who's breathing was barely noticeable. He greatly feared that she would die, that he would lose her and life would go on without her if that were even possible.

He could feel his vision of the future slowly beginning to crumble in his mind without her in it as the reality of her situation hit him harder and harder by the minute. He should have never let her go on that bank heist. He hated himself for all he had put her through more than ever before. How he had acted towards her about the Braithwaites and Grays, it seemed like so long ago but really it hadn't been long at all, how had he been such an idiot?

Dutch set his jaw, and then going around and getting comfortable with Molly again after the fight with Celina? Well no wonder she had run off with Trelawny. Looking back at what had happened, it seemed that he probably had deserved her treatment of him... but she had come back, she had come back willing to believe that he would do everything he could to be a better man for her. He had meant what he had said as well, he wanted to be the man that she deserved.

Then she had to go and get shot. Dutch did everything he could to hold back his tears. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of the gang. What if Celina died before she could ever truly witness the man he could be for her? What if she died before they got to enjoy their future together? He hated himself for previously almost taking her life for granted and not realizing the reality that he could lose her at any second. Now, that reality was directly in front of him.

Hosea gently rolled up Celina's shirt, exposing the nasty bullet wound and cringed at the sight of it, again, bringing the gang greater worry at his reaction. He looked over at Dutch, "Dutch, hold up her shirt please." When Dutch showed no sign of registering what he had said, Hosea snapped in a firmer tone, "Dutch, her shirt."

Dutch finally snapped out of his thoughts at that and took over holding Celina's shirt up out of Pearsons way. His gaze fell upon the ring that she wore around the chain on her neck which had been tucked safely under her shirt, it was the ring he had given her only the other day. Dutch closed his eyes and for the first time in a long time, he prayed.

Pearson took a tool that he swore to them all was clean and poured alcohol over it to clean it further before Hosea carefully poured the alcohol over Celina's wound, awakening her as she let out a shout of pain.

...

Celina awoke all of a sudden and with a shout at the feeling of mind-numbimg pain, her eyes flying open as she desperately attempted to move away from the source of the pain. Her eyes fluttered shut again as if she didn't have the strength to even keep them open. She could hear fine though, the first thing she heard was Hosea's voice, "Shit," the older man cursed, "Dutch, Arthur, you boys get over here and hold her down, we can't have her squirming around while we're trying to do this."

Dutch just stared at the girl as Arthur made his way around the couch and her lower body down. He waited for Dutch to restrain her upper portion but when he didn't, Arthur spoke, "Dutch, are you going to hold her down or not?"

Dutch showed no sign that he had heard Arthur or Hosea and didn't snap out of his thoughts again until Bill pushed his way past him, "I'll hold her."

Dutch backed up, eyes wide as he watched Bill hold her upper half down by her chest, "I, I'm sorry. I-" The problem was, he simply couldn't stay focused to help whatsoever. He backed away more from the group, seeing that he was no longer needed and shook his head, "She's- she's gotta make it." He knelt beside the end of the couch, running a gentle hand over her face, "I love you, you've got to pull through or I'll kill every last law man in this country."

Celina managed to open her eyes slowly at Dutch's words and the pressure that Bill put on her chest and Arthur on her hips. Dutch was the first one she saw and she moved her lips silently at first, her words not coming out until the second try, "I love you too."

Dutch's face seemed to light up at the fact that she had awoken and he ran his thumb over her bottom lip affectionately, "She's awake, someone get her something to bite on." He then spoke lowly again to her, "Just hang in there. You were shot, Pearson's gotta get the bullet out."

Celina groaned upon registering Dutch's words, "I-It was an i-idiot idea o-of mine t-to rob the c-c-city bank." She tried to smile but couldn't manage to do it, her eyes fluttering shut again for a moment before she managed to open them.

Dutch smiled sadly, at least her personality hadn't been effected with her pain, "You'll be fine, no need to talk, just relax."

Celina nodded weakly before Dutch held a rolled up rag in front of her mouth and she accepted, biting down on it to the best of her ability. Dutch looked over to Pearson nervously as he began to move the tweezers towards the site of the wound.

...

"The bullets out," Pearson wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and made eye contact with the group who had all witnessed Celina going unconscious due to the pain digging for the bullet had caused her, "She lost a lot of blood." He gestured to the ruined bloodsoaked couch, his own hands covered in it, "Now we stitch her up and just hope she pulls through."

Mary-Beth handed him a needle, "I found a needle like you asked, I don't think we have any thread left though."

Hosea was the one to come up with a solution, "We're gonna have to use horse hair then, from the tail." He stood to his feet, stretching out his back, "I'll go get it."

Dutch watched as his oldest friend left the house with a heavy heart. He ran his fingers through Celina's dark hair. It had been hard, listening to her screams before she had passed out from pain due to them working to get the bullet out. It was something though, it showed that she was alive, they hadn't lost her yet. She was still hanging on, just barely.

Due to the pain she had so clearly been in, everyone except the people who were helping Pearson and Dutch had left the room so that they could at least try to block out what was going on. The tensions were high, the atmosphere thick as Dutch, Hosea, Arthur, Bill and Pearson at several points had thought that they'd lost her.

Dutch smiled at her to the best of his ability, she was a beautiful young woman, his Celina. He loved her so dearly that he swore on his mother's grave if he lost her he would never touch a woman again. He looked over at Bill and Arthur who relaxed a bit due to the fact she was currently unconscious, the slight rise and fall of her chest the only thing showing she was alive, "She's fighting."

Bill nodded, sitting back on the edge of the table behind him and withdrawing his touch from her, "She's a good woman, I ain't ever been much of a believer that there were good women."

Arthur sat back as well, his hands bloody from the blood running down her stomach and onto them. He carelessly wiped them off on his pants the best he could, "She's stayed with us this long, she should recover."

"I'm afraid she isn't quite out of the woods yet." Hosea made his way back into the house with some horse hair and took his place beside Pearson again, handing him what they would use to replace thread.

The butcher carefully strung the first hair through the needle and waited for Bill and Arthur to resume holding her down on the couch before he inserted the needle into her, begining the process to close her injury. Really, since it was just a bullet wound, stitching her back together didn't take but a few minutes and finally the butcher stood up, "My best of wishes to the lass but I'm afraid that is all I can do."

Hosea let out a sigh as Pearson moved away from them and with one last look in their direction, went back out the door. The older man shook his head and took a deep breath as he stared at the unconscious girl and Arthur and Bill slowly backed away as well.

Arthur gestured to the other room where most of the gang probably was, "I'll let them know she's hanging on. See if we can't find a clean shirt or something to bandage her up with."

Bill reached over and took a swig of the whisky, sitting down on the table again and Dutch stood to his feet, weaving his fingers through Celina's hair once again, savoring the feel of her locks slipping through his hands, "I'm going to step outside. Let me know if anything changes."

Hosea nodded with a look of both concern and sympathy towards his long-time friend, "Will do, Dutch. I'll let you know."

The leader hesitated for one moment longer before dipping his head to Hosea and Bill and walking outside as well. He sat down on the porch bench and stared ahead at the horses in attempt to wrap his mind around how good of a day the current day had started out to be. It was hard for him to grasp the fact that the woman he loved was now laying inside, unconscious and barely hanging onto her life.

...

Bill sat at the table outside so that he could be alone, everyone else was hanging around in the front room of the house as if they were waiting for Celina to wake up at any second. The veteran had had enough for the time being, he needed to get away from the group and get some fresh air. Dutch had gone back in the house himself and Bill wasn't sure if Dutch really knew what to do with himself for once.

Bill? He knew what he wanted to do, he wanted to get really drunk. Bill wanted to get drunk to the point he didn't remember anything that had happened in the current day, let alone the past week... maybe longer. He wanted to forget that Celina Knoll could be dying inside and there was nothing any of them could do about it. He wanted to forget that he weren't man enough to stay there beside her to witness her last breath should it come.

Bill really wanted to forget the night of the party at the Mayor's house when he had walked Celina into the motel in Saint Denis. He wanted to forget how he wanted to offer to stay with her, they wouldn't have had to do anything. She was more than just a pretty face and a hot body, she was one of the good women in the world and he wanted to get to know her better than he had.

Bill wanted to forget that he wasn't man enough to suggest that and that he had been the fool to put his loyalty to Dutch first. Plus, what would a woman like her want with a man like him? Bill grunted and took another drink of his whisky. Always drinking like he was, it couldn't be attractive. How everyone around camp seemed to base more than half their jokes around him, big ol' stupid Bill.

Bill took another drink. He wanted to forget how he had wanted to kiss her before he left her alone in that motel. How he had really wanted to kiss her and again how his self doubt and loyalty to Dutch kept him from even trying. He finished off the bottle and threw it to the ground before uncorking the next.

The veteran opened the book that sat on the table before him, it was a book with entirely blank pages and ready to be wrote in. Now, Bill's writing wasn't great, it wasn't even good, but he figured he would be able to read his own writing if the time should come he had to. He picked up the pen which had laid beside the book and tried to think about what to put on the first page.

"Why don't you try to tell her how you feel?" Karen called out to Bill as she approached him.

Bill looked over at her, his eyes narrowed in defense, "What're you talking about?"

Karen sighed and took a seat next to him, "Oh don't be coy. I can tell that you care about her, Celina that is."

"Just don't want her to die is all." Bill shut the journal and sat the pen down, not caring for anyone to know that he was trying to take up writing.

"And that's it?"

"Yes." Karen raised a brow and fixed him with a stern look, making Bill let out a whine of frustration, "I don't know, maybe?" He scoffed and waved her off, "It don't matter anyhow, she's with Dutch and that's that."

"Ok then, if you say so."

Bill nodded firmly, "I do say so. No point in even thinking about it."

Karen shrugged and stood up, "Alright then, suit yourself."

Bill nodded once again, refusing to budge on his previous decision, "I will, thank you."

...

Celina awoke with a groan, putting forth more effort than she should have had to to open her eyes. She looked around her vision slowly coming into focus to see that Dutch was lounging in the chair across from her, cleaning his gun and appearing to be the only other person in the room besides herself. She licked her dried lips and tried to speak, just barely getting Dutch's name out of her mouth considering how dry her throat was as well.

Dutch looked up from his gun immediately upon hearing her say his name, "You're alive."

Celina laughed a bit but then let out a squeak of pain due to the movement it caused in her stomach, "It seems that way. Can I get some water?"

Dutch sat his gun down on the table, "Of course." He reached over to where he had a glass of water already sitting ready for her in the case she would wake up during his shift watching over her. Dutch brought the water to her, holding it to her lips with a steady hand as she lifted her head to drink to the best of her ability, "How are you feeling?"

Celina laid her head back down, instantly relieved of the struggle to keep it up. She smirked up at him, looking into the enchanting dark eyes she loved so much and although they weren't technically back together, for a moment she forgot that, "I feel like I got shot."

Dutch chuckled at her and sat the water back on the table, "How I'm glad that you are retaining your sarcastic nature perfectly."

"Well I'm breathing, aren't I?"

"Yes you are. Yes, you are. It was touch and go there for a while."

Celina reached out for the water and Dutch assisted her in taking another drink. She swallowed and darted her tongue across her lips to moisten them too, "Guess I should have listened to you about the ladder."

Dutch shook his head, "We should have never robbed that bank. I should have known it would be too risky."

She weakly held up her hand, wincing at the pain the movement caused her, "That was my fault to, I will fully take the blame for that. I'm the one who told you it would be fine despite knowing how dangerous it could be. I- I should have known-" her voice broke off and Dutch immediately assisted her in taking another drink.

He sat the glass back on the table, "Don't worry about using all your strength to talk. Save it for getting better. There's nothing that can't wait to be said until you've recovered some."

She couldn't help herself, there were some questions she just had to have the answer to now, "Hosea, I think I saw him here earlier. He's ok, right?"

Dutch nodded, "He's just fine, actually went to lay down not too long ago, as late as it is."

Celina nodded back at him, a feeling of relief washing over her at the news, "And the money? Did we get away with it ok?"

Dutch smiled at her concern and nodded, "We have it, all sixty-seven thousand dollars worth. Hosea and I are going to discuss our next move in the morning and decide what to do once you're feeling well enough to move with us."

"I really hate to be the hold up. I don't know if we really have the time we need to wait around here for me to get better. I can try to move, Dutch. If I lie down in the back of a wagon it should be fine."

The leader shook his head as he looked down at her face which was still pale from blood loss and pain, "We are not going to move before we are sure we won't be risking your life by doing so. We can defend ourselves here if need be."

Celina rolled her eyes at him through her pain before closing them slowly, "I think I am going to try to catch some more sleep though."

Dutch bent down and kissed her forehead softly, "Goodnight miss Knoll."

Celina opened her eyes again a bit, and smiled, "Celina. Goodnight Dutch."

...

The next two days had been like that. Celina in and out of consciousness and having small conversations with the gang. They had taken turns watching over her one or two at a time while the rest of the boys went about their business.

Of course, Dutch was blaming Angelo Bronte for the law lying in wait for them saying that the man in power didn't have to know exactly when the robbery would take place but only that it would. Dutch believed that Bronte had tipped off the law to be keeping extra security within the city until the robbery took place. Now Celina wasn't too sure of how much she knew about the Italian man, but she didn't feel like Dutch's accusations were too far fetched for once. Who else would it be really?

Celina let out a yawn and tried to shift to a more comfortable position on the couch, wincing as her stitches pulled painfully. She couldn't wait to recover so she and the gang could get on their way to true freedom. She licked her lips and sat up just enough to take a drink of water, looking over to John who was passed out in the chair across from her.

From the lack of light filtering in through the window, she deduced that it was once again dark out. She hated the feeling of sleeping away too much time but of course sleep was the best thing to do for fast recovery. She took another drink and sat the glass back on the table.

That proved to be enough to wake Javier up and be looked at her with groggy eyes, "Is everything ok?"

Celina nodded, "Just getting some water is all. Didn't mean to wake you up."

There was one thing about the last couple days that struck Celina a bit odd. It seemed that everyone in the gang that she actually bothered to talk to had stayed around to keep her company while she was on a strict rest schedule. And by everyone she bothered to talk to, she pretty much meant everyone except Pearson, Molly and Reverend Swanson.

So, by all rights, it didn't make much sense to her that Bill hadn't been keeping her company at all to her knowledge. At least he hadn't been around whenever she was awake, maybe there could have been the coincidence that he was there when she happened to be sleeping but that possibility truly didn't seem very likely to her. Not with how often she switched back and forth between being awake and asleep.

She and Bill got along fine, didn't they? She thought so, expecially recently. It just didn't make sense... unless he thought less of her after he had to stop her from almost blowing her own brains out. It hadn't seemed like he would be the type to judge her for that though. She shook her head, pushing her thoughts to the side when Javier spoke again, "Are you sure you're ok?"

Celina nodded again and tried to make herself comfortable while being careful as to how she was moving to prevent further injury to herself, "I'm just thinking about some things is all... the past couple days have really been a lot."

Javier nodded, "They sure have, expecially for you. Tell you the truth, a lot of us didn't think you would recover like you are."

Celina shrugged, "It just wasn't my time yet, I guess. Hopefully that won't be for a long, long time..." She trailed off, truly wanting to ask the question that was on her mind, "Bill hasn't been around to stay with me yet, has he?"

Javier thought for a moment, "Now that you say it, I don't think he has."

"He's not mad at me or something, is he?"

"You'd have to ask him but I don't see what there would be for him to be mad about... what would there be really? Mad at you for getting shot?"

Celina kept her voice low, "Other reasons like maybe he's troubled over Micah's death?"

Javier waved that suggestion off, "There's no way that that would be bothering him. I'm sure that he was happy when those bounty hunters got him. A lot of us are, saves us a good deal of trouble around here."

Celina nodded and adjusted the pillow behind her head, "I hate feeling like I've wasted the last few days sleeping. I can't help it though, this being shot really takes a lot to recover from."

Javier smiled and nodded, "I think I'm willing to take your word for it. Are you starting to feel back to your normal self yet though? I mean it seems like you've been sleeping less today than yesterday."

She nodded and looked down towards her belly to the best of her ability, "I'm starting to. I mean it still hurts more than I can explain... but I feel my strength beginning to pick back up slowly but surely. I just wish I had the medical luxuries now that I could have if something like this would happen in 2018."

Javier shifted in the chair, leaning forwards in intrest, "What's it like, 2018 anyway?"

She took another drink of her water, "A heck of a lot different. We have cars, like I've explained before that are the dominant form of transportation... some people ride horses but more for fun instead of true method of transportation. That said, people are generally a lot more lazy... not quite as lazy as uncle... well, I suppose some are, but... it's just different. For the most part people buy entertainment such as videogames and movies instead of going out and finding it like they would at this time. There's a lot and I mean a lot more law so there's that... society is a joke. Medicine is well advanced but doctors are pricks for the most part, I don't think the majority really care about patients too much. Doctor's now are definately more empathetic. I don't know," she shrugged, "Everything's so much different... if I had to choose to go back or stay here, I would stay here, no questions asked."

Javier raised a brow, "Even with the life you left behind?"

Celina nodded, "Expecially with the life I left behind. I mean..." She hesitated for a moment, "I had a good group of friends back in 2018 but it was nothing like I have now with you guys. I didn't fit in with them, not really, not with losing my brother. They all tried to understand, but I knew they didn't, they couldn't possibly, they couldn't relate. You guys, I feel like in one way or another we are in similar boats regarding our losses. Eventhough I don't talk about Thomas... It helps me to feel like if I wanted to, I think all of you would truly understand. You know, I..." She took another drink of water, "When I started playing RDR2 and then reading about your guy's gang, it began to change my mentality. I began to believe in freedom above the law as well like you guys. I began to find myself turning against the law, no longer wanting to be under it. I tried to push those feelings to the side at first but even before I was thrown back in time, I began to embrace the idea of freedom from the law... that's something I never told anyone. I truly believe in my heart that this is where I belong and I don't think I would go back to 2018 to save my life... not after living like I am now."

...

A/N: Now officially longest chapter yet I do believe lol. Anyway, I wanted to touch some more on Bill's feelings for Celina as I love writing them and think they're absolutely adorable myself. Any further thoughts on this such as what you would like to see from it and if you like it or not? I just love it tbh lol.

Maybe I'll do a chapter in my Imagine book to show what would have happened if he had offered to stay with Celina after the mayor's party? I think that would be interesting... so I might do that, thoughts? Won't write if you guys aren't interested.

And nope, none of this book is a dream whatsoever, 100% real life. She's really in 1899 guys. She's a real fighter too, surviving a gunshot like that and I really think it adds a lot to the story personally. Making her fight for her life.

Anyway, as always, look forward to reading all of your questions/comments or predictions so leave them in the comments for me if you would.

If I don't update tomorrow, Happy New Year and please, everyone be safe!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	42. Chapter 42

*******Flash forward to 2018*******

"Van Der Linde, get over here!" Mr. Jackson called out to the eighteen year old boy who was leaning against the side of the school smoking a cig when he should have been in his study hall class, "I have warned you time and time again if you don't straighten uo your behavior there are going to be consequences as serious as suspension." The teacher's face turned red as he struggled to keep from losing control of his temper at the boy who seemed to flat out refuse any rule laid down.

"Yeah, yeah," Aiden flicked the cigarette onto the pavement and stomped it out before walking past Mr. Jackson, expelling the smoke into his face as he went.

Mr. Jackson stood stiff for a moment, if only someone had shown that boy some discipline in his younger years... "Van Der Linde, principals office, now."

Aiden rolled his blue eyes and ran his ringed fingers through his slicked back black hair before heading in the direction of the principals office with attitude. The teen- or technically young adult, muttered under his breath as he made it down the hall towards his destination. Everything was stupid, it was so stupid, "Fuck them and their rules." He twisted the ring on his finger which had been passed down to him through generations of his family going back well into the 1800's as far as he knew. It was an old ring, but he liked it.

Aiden knocked lightly on the door of the principals office to let the older man know he was there. He liked Mr. O'Reily, sincerely. He was a good man, he thought he was, reasonable for the most part, gave chances. God knew that he had given him many chances over his high school career. Still, that didn't mean that the Great-Great grandson of Dutch Van Der Linde appreciated being referred to his office any more.

The older man's voice sounded from the other side of the door, "Come on in, Aiden. What's happened now?"

Aiden opened the door slowly and offered Mr. O'Reily a small smile, "Hi sir."

The old man chuckled despite himself, "Hey there boy, how are you?"

"Alright, sir." Aiden sat down in the chair in front of the principals desk, "Mr. Jackson is just getting on me again. You know, I ain't trying to disturb anyone, I just... I just don't see the point. I really think I might just drop out, I might do it."

The principal clasped his hands together and shook his head, "Your senior year is nearly over, your grades, they aren't bad. I say you see yourself graduate... it's not much longer if it weren't for your behavior. What's been going on with you?"

Aiden shrugged, "Just don't want to do school, sir."

"

Look," The old man laid his hand flat on his desk slowly as he tried to pick his words carefully, "I know that things have been hard lately with your dad... being, being in prison and all..."

"With all due respect, Mr. O'Reily, you don't know the half of it." Aiden took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice calm, "My pops is not a bad man, sir. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's it. He isn't a good man, but he's definately not a bad man."

The old man took a deep breath himself and nodded. He couldn't bring himself to believe that a man who was proven to be affiliated with the mob wasn't a bad man. For the sake of the boy sitting in front of him though, he would act as if he gave him the benefit of the doubt, "No, I never said he was a bad man. I'm sure you miss him very much. If you.. if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here, you can count on that, son."

Aiden licked his lips and twisted the ring on his finger again, he was always figetting with the jewelry, always wearing it no matter the occasion, "Thank you, I appreciate that."

The bell rang signaling that it was time for all students in the building to move onto their next class and the principal sighed, looking up at the clock and seeing it 12:00, "You're very welcome, boy. What class are you off to now?"

"American History."

Mr. O'Reily smiled rather knowingly, "Oh is that so? What's the current subject?"

Aiden rolled his eyes, "The wild west."

...

Mrs. Clouse clapped her hands together dramatically after the bell rang signaling the beginning of the forty minute class with a smile and switched on her projector before dimming the lights in the room, "Today we are going to discuss my favorite period of time in history, or rather the end of it."

The middle aged woman clicked through the pages of her presentation until she was where she needed to be, in big bold letters 'The Wild West' was sprawled across the board, "The wild west!"

Aiden rolled his eyes and looked over at Scotty, his best friend who sat at the desk beside him, "She thinks she's going to educate me about the wild west?" Aiden laughed and held up his hand to his friend, referring to the ring that sat on his right ring finger, "I wear Dutch Van Der Linde's ring. We'll see how this goes."

Scotty laughed, "See what she's got to tell you about your great-great grandparents."

Mrs. Clouse noticed the two boys talking in the back of the class and cleared her throat in attempt to get their attention, "I am well aware that some of us are more familiar with the wild west than others, Mr. Van Der Linde. However, I would like to go on and ensure that the rest of the class is knowledgeable about this time in history as well if you don't mind."

Aiden groaned dramatically and turned back around in his seat, "It depends on how you're going to make my family look, I suppose."

Mrs. Clouse's eyes widened, "I will most certainly keep everything accurate as to the recorded history, Aiden. If you have a problem with this you may go down to-"

Aiden leaned back in his chair in annoyance, "I've been to Mr. O'Reily already today. Just go on, not like it was your family who's passed down stories about Celina and Dutch for decades."

The history teacher seemed to be attempting to ignore her most difficult student to the best of her ability as she turned back to the board, "As you all may have guessed, the first thing we are going to discuss about the wild west is the Van Der Linde gang, starting with how they started and the events which led to their eventual downfall." She cleared her throat and flipped on an image of Hosea Matthews, "Hosea Matthews, born in November of 1830..." and Dutch Van Der Linde, "Born in September of 1857 were the men who founded the Van Der Linde gang in May of 1878."

went on to explain how the gang formed with Dutch and Hosea first adopting Arthur into their strange family and how good things had started out. She went over with the class how Dutch had started off as a man with a good heart, a man who was almost a robin hood figure, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, keeping only enough for himself, Hosea and Arthur to get by. She explained that these three men, they had morals, and had a code which they lived by- helping those who needed help, stealing from people as they needed to get by and killing people only who they thought needed to be killed. Mrs. Clouse made it clear as she educated the class that she was teaching them what the gang believed in and that that didn't mean she believed in or agreed with it personally. That made Aiden roll his eyes for what he felt were another time too many. He was real sick and tired of people acting as if he came from a family of bad people. Sure, they weren't that great, but they weren't what he would have described as truly bad... no, not truly, they believed in something.

Of course just by going by articles from the newspaper which was preserved for the history books as well as the journals of the gang members, mostly Arthur's, there wasn't a whole lot of detail in how exactly the Van Der Linde gang came together entirely and formed into the notorious gang of the wild west. Unfortunately pages in the journals of the gang were missing or ruined, making it hard to get a full picture of all of their lives. though, in the class period with most students undivided attention on her mostly in interest managed to give them quite a bit of detail for it only being the first day on the topic. She took a drink of water before sitting the bottle back down on her podium, "Now, it wasn't until February of 1899 that miss Celina Knoll came along and from there it is credited by many sources that she was a major reason the Van Der Linde gang didn't get worse than they were."

Aiden laughed and decided to do what he did best, interrupt, "That's my great-great grandma, everyone." He pointed to himself, "I'm her and Dutch's great-great grandson. I mean that's how everyone looks at me right? That's the first thing that comes to mind when someone thinks of me." He flashed his award-wining smile, showing his perfect, straight white teeth, "I come from a long family of anarchists, watch out!"

fixed Aiden with a tired look, "Are you going to let me continue, or are we going to have problems again?"

Aiden gestured to her dramatically, "Please do continue."

The teacher cleared her throat, she knew that the young man had been going through quite a lot recently but there was no way that she would just ignore his bad behavior and accept his almost constant disrespect, "Not only was Celina Knoll supposedly the glue that kept the gang grounded to their morals at times, but the biggest love intrest of Dutch Van Der Linde ever known." She fixed the class with a firm buy excited look, it was no joke that this was her favorite period of time in history with pictures of the gang members on the classroom wall. "I think perhaps if it weren't for her, based on old records, the gang would have certainly had a much different fate. While history focuses largely on her relationship with Dutch Van Der Linde, don't let it be forgotten that this woman also had ties to the horribly infamous Williamson Gang."

The bell rang marking the class period as over.

 ** **Back to 1899****

"If you would stop making fun of me for two seconds, Arthur, that would be great. If not, I'm going to take this cane and shove it right up your-"

"Ok, I relent," Arthur laughed at Celina as she hobbled through the house. It was day four after her getting shot and the gang was more than happy to see her moving about. Arthur, of course, being himself, just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make jokes at her a she largely relied on a cane at that point in time to help her to walk.

Celina rolled her eyes at the mischievous outlaw and knowing he wasn't paying attention, she wacked him in the back of the knees with it, nearly sending him to the ground. She laughed as he just barely caught his balance and looked at her if he had been personally offended, "You deserved that, cowboy."

Arthur shook his head and chuckled, raising his hands in surrender, "I suppose I did."

"Sure did," Celina laughed lightly, trying not to injure herself and leaned back on her cane, "Making fun of the handicapped, what's wring with you?"

Sadie Adler came into the room, a bemused smile on her face as she looked from Arthur to Celina and back to Arthur, "What is going on in here?"

Arthur pointed to Celina accusingly, "She hit me."

Celina rolled her eyes and did her best to hold in a laugh that wanted to come out knowing that it would unfortunately only bring pain with it. Because of this, she forced herself to look away from the two of them and try to get herself to calm down, "What your boyfriend.." She waved at them dismissively, "Or whatever is trying to say is that I hit him with my cane only after he followed me around the house antagonizing me about said cane."

Sadie laughed and looked at Arthur in a way that suggested she knew what she heard from Celina had to be the truth. Of course it was the truth, he was Arthur Morgan, it wasn't like he didn't constantly go around camp picking at everyone when he could, "Is that so?"  
Sadie did her best to keep the smirk off her face but failed when Arthur hung his head playfully pretending to act guilty and nodded. The woman who had taken a fancy to that particular outlaw shook her head at him and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

Celina couldn't help but smile at the two of them, she was happy, truly happy that Arthur had manages to find himself someone as amazing as Sadie Adler and had finally gotten rid of that dreaded Mary Linton. Celina had hated that woman- Mary for what she knew about her. She couldn't stand that it was made out to seem that se was always perfectly fine with insulting Arthur's code of life at every chance she got and making it clear that she thought he wasn't much of a man at times and that he wasn't good enough for her. Not only that, but she had the nerve after saying those things to turn around and ask him for help because her life was so often so conveniently such a mess. Did she really think that she could treat him like that and then be surprised and hurt when he didn't help her? The nerve.

Still, Celina had to give Arthur and Sadie crap about what she had jus witnessed between the two of them, "Why don't the two of you get a room? Good lord, public indecency."

Sadie laughed and backed away from Arthur who looked truly happy for once, it was good to see. So good to see, "You mean... you and Dutch's room?"

Celina's eyes widened and she sat her jaw with a humored twinkle in her eyes, "Not me and Dutch's room! Use John and Abbigail's. Arthur, if you don't stop trying to make me laugh, I swear.."

"Ok, miss Knoll, if you're ready to move out I suggest it's time we do so... especially with the Pinkerton's right outside our windows."

Celina looked at Dutch with wide eyes as he pulled out his revolvers and took cover to the side of the window, the door swinging open and loudly slamming against the door as almost the whole gang file inside in attempt to take cover. She heard Mary-Beth shout when she entered the house, "Kieran's been shot in the head! He's dead!"

Arthur shook his head, "Poor kid."

Dutch looked over at the gang who all quickly found cover of some sort to the best of their ability, Arthur and Charles quickly barricading the front door, others moving about to cover any other possible place of entry into the house, "All women and Jack upstairs and into the bedrooms now!"

Of course everyone except Celina and Sadie listened, Sadie crouching down beside Arthur and Celina standing at the side of the window opposite to Dutch with her revolver in hand as she leaned on her cane with the other, ready to shoot their attackers. Dutch went to say something to her but she cut him off both verbally and a look that told him to shut up, "I'm fighting. There's nothing you can say to change my mind, I'm recovering, I can stand, I'm fighting."

Dutch fired off shots, dismissing her and she shrugged not knowing if that would cause a mild disagreement later in the day or not. Frankly though, she couldn't bring herself to care too much. She was just happy that she was finally back on her feet after days of bed rest and back in the action. She fired at a man and hit him in the lower torso before cringing, she was really tired of missing her targets so often with the rare occurrence that she was able to take someone out with a clean headshot.

"There's a lot of them." Arthur voiced his concern from across the room where ha and Sadie covered a window of their own, "There's got to be what? Thirty?"

"I'm afraid there are only more coming in," Dutch observed with a heave heart.

Celina took a deep breath and fired some more, it didn't look good, really didn't look good as more and more started coming in, "Go figure we have the money only now no one is going to be alive to spend it."

Dutch shot her a disapproving stare which made her shut up. She feared what she said was true though, this hadn't happened before to her knowledge, at least not in the location they were in. Dutch then made a call, "Arthur, meet me up on the balcony, John, Charles, you boys too. We are going to have to take them out from above, get a better view. There's no way we're ever going to take them al out from down here."

Celina watched as the men rushed upstairs quickly with Dutch in the lead and spoke to Sadie without looking at her, "Well, this day did start out good."

The other woman hummed in agreement, "This is usually how it goes."

"Yep," Celina took a deep breath and reloaded her revolver, "Should have known."

"These buggers just keep coming, what the hell man, they're spawning out of the devils crack." As if there were any question about who would have said something like that, it was of course Sean, his Irish accent making the phrase at least five times better.

Celina shook her head but managed to smile at him, "Dang it Sean."

"Well, they are, aren't they? Just keep coming, sure does seem like it."

Celina nodded despite herself, "I suppose so. There's a lot of them for sure."

"Dutch!"

Celina's heart felt like it had stopped upon hearing Dutch's name yelled upstairs in a way that sounded distressed. Immediately, it felt like her whole world was crumbling down around her once again, it couldn't be, could it? Had he gotten shot? Tears priced at her eyes and she fired off come more shots, not able to leave her position by the window as the house was simply too big to do so and there wouldn't be enough people covering downstairs in her absence. She bit down on her bottom lip before shouting as loudly as she could, hoping that they would be able to hear her up on the balcony through the open window, "Is he ok?"

Much to her relief, it was Dutch who responded, "Close one is all, I'm alright. We are going to make it out of this."

As much as she was received to hear that the man she loved was ok, she groaned slightly at the idea that he was going to go into one of his speeches in the middle of quite possibly the biggest gun fight of their lives. Not another speech she thought to herself, not now, and hopefully not for a while. She had gotten tired of hearing about him 'having a plan' and his speeches when she was in 2018, now to be subject to listen to them in real life? She smiled slightly at the leaders ridiculousness, that man. Luckily for her, he said nothing else.

"They're trying to close in on the house." It was Javier who announce that as if it needed to be said, "If they get in here the we're all dead."

"Well, we won't let it come to that," Hosea truthfully didn't sound so certain himself but it was clear that he was trying.

Celina stopped firing for a moment and leaned back against the wall, it seemed that no matter how many the killed, there was always more people to file in out of the woods. With the amount of law it seemed as if there wouldn't be enough to cover the rest of the country. It could be that they had all banned together and were in their yard. She resumed firing with a new ferocity, if they had never robbed the Saint Denis bank then she was sure that so many law wouldn't have turned up. There it was, yet another reason as to why she shouldn't have made the call she did. Not only had she nearly gotten herself killed with it but now the rest of the gang was at risk. She took a deep breath trying to remind herself that had she not been there, they would have robbed the bank anyway and ended up in Guarma as well. At that point, she found it that a trip to Guarma didn't sound all too terrible, perhaps even better than their current situation.

"Well, guys," She sighed, "What are we going to do? They just won't stop."

"Surely they've got to stop at some point," Javier responded, sweat trickling down his face.

"One would think." Hosea cracked his neck before resuming his focus on the enemy.

"I knew that we had stayed here too long after Saint Denis. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It was all my fault that we didn't leave sooner, when we needed to." Celina meant what she said, if they had left jus a day earlier all of this could have been avoided, at least for the time being that was. They could have been well on their way to Tahiti if he wouldn't have gone and got herself shot.

"Don't start that, dear," Hosea addressed her, "We are in this together, now let's kill these bastards."

...

They had managed it, just barely, somehow they had actually managed to manage it. It had been a long fight and all of them were mentally and physically exhausted by the time they had a big enough opening to make a run for it, by the time they gunned down the last of the men in sight. Still, they had managed, all of them riding side by side up to Beaver Hollow where Arthur and Charles had cleared out a creepy cave with freaks of human beings living there only a couple days prior. One other thing mattered other than them getting away with their lives and that was the fact they managed to bring their money from the bank with them.

"Ok," Dutch spoke as they rode, Charles in the lead, "We stay at this site for a day or two tops and then we get out of here. There's a boat coming in and there's talk of it heading in the direction of Tahiti. Hosea scoped it out so it's a legitimate lead." Dutch took a deep breath, "I think we'll be safe up there by the caves from what I've heard, no one dares to go up there."

"You should have seen it, Dutch," Arthur spoke, "When Charles and I found it, it was.. " He stopped, changing his mind about what he wanted to say, "It was bad. We cleaned it up nice though for the most part just incase we needed to use it."

Charles pointed up ahead, "Turn right up there and we will follow that road for a ways."

Arthur moved up in the group from where he had previously been riding at Sadie's side, "You sure we ain't being followed, Dutch? There sure were a lot of men back there."

"I ain't sure." Dutch admitted, "Something like that... I ain't sure. We've just got to have hope, we've got to have faith that all of this... that all of this is getting us somewhere." Dutch continued, "If we just believe that we will make it, we will. You'll see, all of you will. Our freedom is just around the corner, I can feel it."

Arthur shook his head, "I ain't so sure, I'm nervous, Dutch, real nervous. That was a lot of men for us to be getting away from. Kind of makes me wonder if they ain't just wanting us to think that they lost us. Hw do you expect we get out of here, Dutch, really? We go anywhere near civilization and we'll be recognized. The law will be on our tail faster than we can blink."

Dutch was quiet for a moment before saying anything else, "I have a plan, son. You've just go to trust me."

"Oh, Dutch." Arthur almost whined, "What is it this time?"

"We make noise. A lot of it and then we disappear." It was all Celina could do not to tell Dutch to leave the natives out of it right the and there because of course he knew she couldn't have that conversation with him there ad then, not in front of the gang. Anyway, she had been doing better getting Dutch to listen to what she had to say. If she said something to him in front of all the others though? It was sure to become disastrous.

How it was though, Arthur was currently still trying to handle the situation, "What are you talking about? We did just make a lot of noise," Arthur scoffed, "Way too much in Saint Denis. If you remember that and al the noise in Blackwater is what got us into this mess."

"Exactly." Dutch nodded in agreement, "So we do it one more time and draw attention to another problem. Set it up so that it looks like something we wouldn't do. Then, after and only after the law turns their attention to it, we can get on that boat to Tahiti and we're free."

Arthur shook his head, "That just sounds unnecessary, Dutch. You know I- just don't think that's going to work. I say if we're going to get away we do it real quiet like. That is IF we get away."

"Have some faith, would ya?" Bill yelled up at Arthur, Javier aggreging with Bill immediately.

"Thank you, Bill, Javier. Arthur, maybe you should try having half the faith they do, son. We are going to be fine. We're going to be just fine."

...

A/N: Thanks for reading guys! Kind of tried something different with this chapter as al of you obviously know, a little sneak peek into the far future lol. It was fun and interesting to write, and yes, Aiden is a lot like Dutch XD but what do you think? There's all of your confirmation that she has successfully changed history without giving anything away. Although I did confirm the Williamson gang is still going to come to be. Oh, for those of you seriously offended over this story... and the ones who think Celina is a Mary-Sue... no one's forcing you to read to put it nicely. If you don't like it, don't read it, simple as that. No one is forcing you to read XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	43. Chapter 43

Celina sat down on a log by the camp fire which Bill was sitting at alone and looking rather lost in his thought. For the time being, she was letting Arthur deal with the fact that Dutch seemed convinced they needed to make noise in order to leave the country. Of course she didn't believe that they should get the natives involved in order to draw attention away from themselves but that hadn't come up quite yet so for now, she felt like it would be best to just let it slide. Heck, even the bridge that she knew Dutch may come up with the idea of blowing up seemed like a stupid idea to her. She figured that at the point they were at they should just travel for a bit, get to a quitter location and then work on getting out to Tahiti. That, she would talk to Dutch about later, the idea seemed as good as any.

Celina finally said something to Bill, "Hey, Bill, are we..." She felt like she could talk openly to him as everyone else was doing one thing or another and she doubted anyone was paying attention, "Are we ok? After.. you know." She fidgeted with her hands almost awkwardly and looked down at the ground, "After what happened with me out by the river after the cabin, I just feel like we haven't spoken since and that was about a week ago."

"That's cause we haven't." Bill took another drink of his whisky.

Celina nodded and sat up straighter, "So what's going on?"

Bill sat the glass bottle down and fixed her with a hard stare, what was he supposed to say? That he could hardly stand being around her sometimes due to the fact that he was loyal to Dutch and she was too and it was all just... it was all just stupid, "Do you know why I'm loyal to Dutch?" There, that was a good start. Wasn't it?

"Well, I suppose I don't know the story if that's what you're asking."

Bill waited for a minute to proceed further with the conversation, it was a long enough pause that Celina for a second was uncertain if he was going to say anything else. He let out a grunt, "Dutch... he.." Bill shook his head and thought for another second of how he wanted to phrase what he had to say, "Dutch found me shortly after my time in the army had come to an end. I... well, I were in a real bad place at the time..." Bill gestured to her, doing his best to keep his eyes on her face, "Kinda like you were when I found you by the river, real close to it. I had almost... a few times." Bill shook his head, "That's why I told you that you didn't really want to do it.. I" He changed the direction of his sentence, "When Dutch came across me, I was drunk, real drunk and, well, I tried to rob him. Tried. You know, Dutch- well Dutch just laughed at me, and I was so mad that I coulda put a bullet in him right then and there. You know what though?" Bill perked up a little, "He managed to cheer me up, and he gave my life purpose. Dutch Van Der Linde saved me twelve years ago and to this very day, he did and I will be forever in his debt. So when I say I'm loyal to Dutch, I mean it. When I say I have faith in him, I mean it, he will get you through, he gets me through and he'll get all of us through."

Bill took another drink of the whisky he had sitting at his feet, "I guess what I'm trying to say is I couldn't envision a future where I would be disloyal to Dutch and if I ever were." Bill took yet another swig, "If I ever were, I suppose I would have to have a damn good reason and then more."

Celina stared at him for a moment in silence, not quite understanding what Bill's point was in telling her what he had no matter how heartwarming it was to hear him explain his loyalty to Dutch. She licked her lips slowly trying to assess how that tied into whether he two of them were ok or not, "It's good that you care about Dutch so much, Bill. I'm sorry you had to go through all you've had to."

Bill nodded, "I'm not stupid, you know? I may not be as smart as Dutch or Hosea but I ain't stupid. I notice things and I bring in just as much for the gang as everyone else. I," He pointed a finger at his head, "I know things and I," He put his hand over his heart, "I feel things."

"Well of course you do, you're human as the rest of us.." She wasn't too sure of what to say after that, the conversation still not making a whole lot of sense to her, "What exactly are you trying to say though, Bill? I don't think I und-"

"Well miss Celina, there you are my dear! I've only just arrived and already I've been told of you nearly being shot to death. How are you?"

Celina looked over in the direction of the way too familiar British accent of Josiah Trelawny with a smile and stood up before drawing him into a hug, "I've been better but I'm working on recovering, how are you?"

"Oh fine, I suppose," They pulled away from one another and he smiled kindly at her, "It took me a bit to find the lot of you but here I am and I hear that the gang is about to run off to some tropical paradise?"

Celina nodded, "Tahiti I think as long as everything goes according to plan."

"Tahiti.. I cannot say that I know much of it." He looked over to Bill who had set his attention back on his whisky, "Mr. Williamson, would you mind if I borrowed this fine lass for just a moment?"

Bill looked over at them and gave a curt nod but Celina hesitated and looked back to Josiah, "Actually, Josiah, can I catch back up with you in a minute? We were actually in the middle of a conversation."

Trelawny nodded and was about to verbally agree but Bill waved dismissively at the two of them before he could say anything, "The two of you are fine, I'm going to enjoy my drink in peace."

Celina half frowned at his words but walked away with Trelawny regardless, seeing that it seemed the mood for Bill Williamson to be talkative had been ruined already and he wasn't a guy she thought that she could just hang around until he decided to talk and get good results, "Well, I think we're going to be headed out there in a day or so. To be honest, I don't really know too much of it either but that it's a tropical paradise, better that Australia and Dutch is absolutely obsessed with it."

"Sounds interesting my dear." Trelawny adjusted the collar of his suit, "And you and Dutch, how are the two of you?"

Celina took a deep breath, "We've actually been pretty good ever since I went back to camp. I think our short break was what we both needed in order to realize how things are and how we feel." They had walked into the woods just outside of camp, keeping their voices low enough so that they wouldn't be overheard, "Are you sure you really want to talk about this?"

The magician nodded without hesitation, "I think it can be agreed that how we feel for one another is platonic with the exception of our short burst of fun with one another. No hard feelings here."

Celina let out a sight of relief, "Good, I feel the same way." She laughed shortly, "No need to make anything awkward then."

"Oh heavens no," he waved her off, "So, about you and Dutch?"

"He's been a lot better." Celina smiled and pulled the ring out from where it was tucked into her shirt on a chain around her neck, "He gave me this when I got back."

Trelawny stopped walking to take a look at the item, "Very nice indeed."

She nodded and tucked it back into her shirt again in order to ensure nothing would happen to it, "I love him, Josiah... I really do and always have and I really believe he loves me too. We're working on fixing things, Dutch and I.. it's just, it's not real easy to worry about a relationship right now and it will be until we're free."

Josiah nodded, "I definitely see the logic in that. You know though, Celina, with the law searching for the lot of you the way they are, it is going to be hard to get to a ship it that can take you over seas and to a specific place like Tahiti nonetheless."

"Yeah," She raked her hands though her hair and tugged slightly, "I think we can do it though if we lie low now and play our cards right."

"Well I would hope."

"So you're coming with us too then?"

"I'm not completely against considering it... But odds are I will not." Josiah gestured to the cane which Celina was leaning on, "So I see you're the one with the cane now, how things change."

Celina rolled her eyes at him, "But the difference is that I actually need it and you just had yours for show."

Trelawny smiled, "Be as it may. Could I?" He reached for her cane and Celina nodded and let go of it, allowing him to take it from her. He raised the cane as if he were inspecting it, "If it's a show that you would like, I do believe I'm just the man for that task." He let go of the cane and rested his hands underneath it as it levitated horizontally in the air a few inches above his hands, raising it up further and further only to bring it back down gradually.

Celina watched as he did the trick with wide eyes, "I will never understand how it is that you do things like that."

He laughed and handed the cane back to her, "A magician never reveals his secrets my dear, you remember that."

"So, how about you?" She asked as she resumed leaning on the cane, her stomach was hurting her quite bad from all of the activity she had put it through in that day, "Are you seeing anyone?"

"Well," Trelawny started, "That is rather a funny question, is it not?"

She eyed him in amusement wondering just why he was approaching the question in the way he was, "No, I happen to think of it as a rather cut and dry question actually. So.. are you or aren't you? I'm really curious now."

"So, I may be getting married."

Celina's eyes widened drastically, "Married?! It's not been a full week since we were together."

"I know," Trelawny shrugged, "It is quite rushed but not so much when the woman you're marrying is your former spouse."

"Former spouse? Wait, what?"

Trelawny sighed, "When I told you I had no family, it was..." He searched for a wording that wouldn't get him into trouble with the woman before him, "It was true, partially... in a way it was true because I was separated from my family. Divorced from my wife and she had taken our two sons."

Celina could hardly believe what she was hearing but had to remind herself that she was talking to Josiah Trelawny, the man who was better at keeping secrets than anyone else she had ever come to know. She shook her head as she tried to wrap her mind around what he was telling her, "Well, I suppose it's a good thing that I left you then."

Trelawny nodded slightly, seeming rater shamed of himself, "Yes, I would have to agree with that dear. I'll agree with that that is as long as agreeing will not get me into any trouble with you."

Celina laughed and raised her free hand palm up towards the sky, "I suppose there is no need for you to even consider going to Tahiti in that case then, is there?" She wasn't mad at him, not at all but she didn't really understand why he had to feel so secretive towards her... although on the other hand it wasn't as if she weren't secretive towards him as well.

The magician changed the subject, "Part of the reason I have come here was to let you in on some information I've managed to aquire."

"What? Information?"

"Yes, indeed... Information on how you managed to be transported here from the year of 2018."

"Wait," she looked at him suspiciously, "What do you mean? How do you know about that?" There was no point in denying it, not any more, not when he knew exactly what year she was really from.

"I am friends with several witches, my dear." Trelawny dipped his head slightly, "You can't tell me that you won't believe that's the case when I am the most legitimate magician you have probably ever laid your eyes on."

"Witches?" She shook her head, "Trelawny, if this is one of your cons..."

He shook his head, the look in his green eyes nothing but sincere, "Do you want to know the truth about how you came here or not? I don't mean to be rude so forgive me but I happen to think the information I have is quite interesting and the only way you'll find out to my knowledge is from me or one of the high witches up in the Grizzlies." Celina laughed and turned on her heel to walk away but Trelawny kept trying to catch her intrest, "Do you really think I would forget about the tattoos you revealed to me in bed?"

She spun back around on her heel to face him again, holding her finger to her lips in attempt to get him to lower his voice, "If you let Dutch hear you say that he just might kill you." She took a deep breath, did she really want him to give her the details of how she came to be there? What if she didn't like the truth? How had he even found these things out? The man looked sincere, truly sincere and she highly doubted he would ever try to hurt her intentionally... what he wanted to tell her had to be the truth, didn't it?

"Ok," she gave in, she knew that if he didn't tell her now she would be unable to sleep until he did so, "Go ahead and tell me, but you have to start with educating me about these 'high witches'. Really, they don't sound believable to me at all."

"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to." He shrugged, "What I happened to find out just struck my interest for rather obvious reasons. Time travelling doesn't happen every day and apparently it never will again. The magician gently grabbed her by her arm and began yo lead her away from the camp so that they were well out of earshot of everyone in it, "I am good friends with those witches, I've known them for several years and have actually aided them as a conjuror once or twice. When I saw your tattoo for the first time, and you had told me it was a scar, dear... Well, I knew that wasn't the truth."

Celina raised her brows at him in agreement, "Obviously."

"So," Trelawny continued, "I did some research on my end and by that, I reached out to one of the witches. Magic, it all stems from the same place whether it be simple magic tricks as I do or more advanced witchcraft. These women... They have devoted their lives to the magic arts, very powerful spells they can cast and they.." Trelawny took a deep breath, "When I saw your tattoo, it peaked my interest, as I knew that I had never se anything like it before, it was different, strange and I thought that Annaliese would know. You know, out of curiosity I went to her for information."

Celina shook her head and licked her lips, "So you went to her for information and then in Saint Denis you acted as if you didn't know anything of my tattoos." She closed her eyes for a moment, "Why would you do something like that? What's the point?"

"I wanted to see how much you knew. This is why I'm a conman, my dear, my knack for being able to act the role needed. I jut wanted to know what you knew, wanted to see if you trusted me is all. I was never upset over you not telling me. As you can see I have kept quite a bit from you."

She drug a tired hand over her face, she trusted Trelawny for the most part. She definitely didn't mistrust him but with as much information as he seemed to have, she didn't quite like it considering the big mouth he had on him. What she really didn't like was the fact that he had seemingly obtained information on her past without consent from her whatsoever and was the first one to possibly know what had sent her back to 1899. Then she had more questions, "I believe in witchcraft, I really do, but high witches? It just seems like... a lot."

"High witches is my term for them, Miss Knoll... in reality, that is not their assigned title but they are only a trio of very powerful witches who typically stay up in the Grizzly Mountains.. they aren't bad women... just, powerful."

Celina chewed on the inside of her jaw, her mind felt as if it were spinning with all the thoughts she had about the conversation at hand. It was true that there were witches, true witches, she always believed in that. But to think that they had brought her back to 1899? She sighed, "Ok, let's say I believe you.. what did these women tell you about me?"

Well, Trelawny clasped his gloved hands together before fixing her with a intense look, "They told me that bringing you back here was a mistake. Unfortunately, there is no reversing what has been done, ever. No time travel ever again as they claim the world cannot support it."

"Wait.. what?"

Trelawny nodded, "It wasn't ever intentional, my dear."

"Then what?" Her face screwed up in confusion, "How would they... if they're such powerful witches how would they mess the spell up that they were trying to do? And why.. what were they trying to do?"

Josiah sat down on a fallen log nearby and gestured for Celina to take a seat beside him, which she did before he continued, "I would greatly love for you to have been with me when I had this conversation with them but as it is, I will relay to you the answers as they would have it to the best of my ability. They... the witches are kind, very kind folk unless of curse you are on their bad side." He leaned in closer to her a bit, "Which you're not. I tell you this because the witches enjoy doing magic, they take requests from those they take a liking to if they believe it is moral to do so. Being witches, they all luckily retained their memories of the first time 1899 came and went. What they told me is that I of all people had went to them after witnessing and hearing of the downfall of the Van Der Linde Gang... apparently I had taken it hard. I can now only imagine what impact that would have on me. Being such good friends wit the three women, I called upon a favor they owed me for all the help I had provided them over the years and apparently it was a big one."

Celina listened intently as Trelawny carried on with the information he had brought back to her, almost on the edge of her seat to find out what had happened to bring her to the current year as they had it. She said nothing though, not daring to interrupt as the magician continued, sounding so true to fact, "I had asked them to take time back to the day when the Van Der Linde gang had just made it through the Grizzly Mountains in hopes that maybe things would turn out differently some way, some how.. I had no idea how things would change but I hoped that... I just hoped that maybe something would go differently. They had agreed, seeing how distraught I was upon hearing of what had happened to my friends, especially Arthur." He scratched at his moustache, "Now witches are only so powerful but these women, they had the power to fulfil my request."

Josiah cleared his throat, "In this agreement though, no one would realize that time had went back to February of 1899. The time travel would be unnoticeable to anyone other than the witches, so of course the odds of people making the same choices as the first time around were great. Also as I said, the time travel can never be reversed so in this, time picks up from the sixteenth of February, 1899 and continues onwards from there at a normal pace. If somehow things would end up worse than they had before.. nothing would ever be able to be done to change it. Still.. I agreed." He picked at the glove on his right hand and looked at the ground for a second, his mouth having got dry from talking. Celina offered her his canteen and he took it from her gratefully, taking a drink of the water it contained, "They had also made it clear to me that they could not exactly verify when the universe would be rolled back in time to 1899, only that it would happen should it have been the next day or two-hundred years from them. They made it clear that it would happen though, but only when God finally allowed it."

"And it ended up happening in 2018..." Celina finally spoke, "So nothing I did caused this and the whole world went back in time, so there aren't other dimensions of time or anything like that."

Trelawny shook his head, "No dimensions, dear. The whole world went back in time and no, not because of anything you did... it was predetermined to happen."

She took a drink from the flask herself, "So here we are."

"Yes, here we are."

"I still don't see how I lived through going back in time... or how I am aware that I went back in time if only the witches were supposed to be aware of it." Celina chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"And I brought that up to them since they had confirmed that you are indeed from 2018. What they concluded is that maybe at the time the change to the universe was happening you had done something to tie you to this year. Did you maybe use an old artifact from this point in time, perhaps something of the gangs? That could have caused you to be transported here, if you were in contact with it at the time the world went back in time..."

Celina's eyes widened once again as she thought back to the things of Dutch's that her friends had stolen for her from the museum. Receiving those gifts was one of the last memories she had from 2018 before arriving in 1899. She nodded, "A couple things of Dutch's... I had his pocket watch and his flask. I suppose I could have been holding one of or both of them at the time."

Trelawny seemed satisfied at that gesturing to her, "See there you go. That's the answer."

She sucked in a deep breath as she did her best to process the information that had been thrown at her. She was honestly grateful for her question about how things had happened the way they had was finally answered. It made sense she supposed, no matter how crazy it sounded, seemed truly legitimate as she thought about it, "One more question then." She mulled over the question trying to think of how to ask it or even if the magician would know the answer, "We had a video game... or rather two based on the time periods of 1899-1911 which focused on the Van Der Linde gang.. everyone's voices sounded exactly the same in the game as they do here in real life. Do you... do you know how that would be possible?"

Trelawny nodded, "In fact I believe I do, dear." He licked his lips and took another drink, "The witches did say that as time got nearer and nearer to the point the world would go back to 1899, the past would begin truly making itself known. Details of the past would start becoming clearer and clearer as the world prepared for the transition. It is quite possible that in this, the universe directed people who managed to pull off our voices perfectly to voice us appropriately in whatever game you played."

Celina sat there beside the magician in silence as everything that she had just been told weighed on her mind greatly. She had previously expected to always wonder how she had been sent back to 1899... now, she was ninety-nine percent certain that she knew pretty much exactly how it had happened. It was a lot to say the least, to take all of the information which had been thrown at her so quickly in. Still, she took it to heart and looked at Trelawny with an expression of gratitude, "Things happened in my life in 2015... three years before I was sent here and the things that happened during that time.." She shook her head, "It truly shook my world and life just.. it probably never would have been enjoyable for me again with all that had happened to the people around me, the people I had cared about.. my family. This," She gestured to her surroundings, "This is like a second chance for me to build the life I truly want, and that life is with the gang. So thank you for asking that favor of the witches who were able to pull it off, and thank you for finally deciding to tell me about it."

Trelawny nodded, "Oh most certainly dear. After hearing that you had nearly died after being shot, I just knew that I had to tell you the truth. You deserved to know and I am happy you decided to listen. Quite interesting finding out information that few others know, is it not?"

She stood up, using her cane to help her and kept her eyes on Trelawny who got up as well, "It most certainly is." She smiled, "I always thought you were good for something."

...

A/N: There's the next chapter guys. Hope you all enjoyed! Finally I wanted to let all of you know how going back in time happened as I figured it needed to come out sooner or later and Trelawny I felt is just the man to let her know what happened. Thoughts on this will be appreciated as always. I'm just happy that I feel like that is a decent storyline as to that, took a lot of thought for sure haha. Glad to have it out there and explained, like a weight off my chest.

... Then there's the conversation with Bill who just isn't sure of how to talk about his feelings lol. Can I get comments on this anyone?

Hope you all had a great 01/01/2019!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	44. Chapter 44

"But wait," Celina stopped in her tracks and turned back towards Trelawny, "Something else doesn't make sense."

"And what would that be?"

She gestured to herself, "Technically I wasn't born until 1995... how am I not aging back in time being in the year I am? How can I exist at this time if my parents haven't even technically been born?"

Trelawny smiled knowingly, "You and I, we seem to ask similar questions. The answer the witches gave? They advised me that it is the will of the universe- of God himself for you to age as normally as anyone else alive in 1899. Fear not, you will only grow older as years go by, not younger my dear."

Celina let out a laugh of relief, "I've never been so happy to hear that I'll eventually grow old... assuming that no one kills me."

The magician chuckled, "I surely understand your relief."

She took a deep breath, "I guess I'll start considering myself born in 1875."

It was weird to finally hear someone confirm what had happened to her out loud although she had been facing the reality that she was truly in 1899 for a good few months now. Hearing it truly confirmed by someone else as well, just made the reality of the situation hit her all over again. She cleared her throat and smiled, "I really appreciate you, Josiah."

Trelawny bowed dramatically, "You're welcome, my dear." He straightened again and adjusted his suit, "As it is, I'm now going to make my rounds and deliver my getting to everyone I care to."

Celina laughed, "You do that. I'm gonna check on Bill. He was acting a little weird."

Trelawny raised a brow, "You do that, see if can get him to behave like a normal human being."

"Oh stop," she shook her head as she came out of the woods with him and they went in separate ways.

She was on her way back to the campfire where she had last seen Bill but didn't quite arrive at her destination as Dutch approached her looking as if he were in good spirits, "So, you know what we're going to do?"

Celina shook her head almost nervously, "No, but I feel like you're about to tell me."

Dutch chuckled, "I've managed to catch word that Mr. Leviticus Cornwall is going to be coming up the river and into Annesburg later today. Got me thinking, what a better way to ensure we successfully escape than to take out the very man who is funding the law persuit against us?"

Celina closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Dutch." She sighed and looked up at him, "Leave the man alone, please. It's not necessary and I thought you didn't believe in revenge anyway?"

Dutch looked a little offended, "You think this is about revenge?" He spread his arms wide as if the answer were obvious, "This isn't about revenge, this is about finally being free."

"No." She pointed at the ground insistently, "We- you kill Cornwall and it is going to scream to the law that we're close in the area. It's like we would be beckoning them here. I say we stay quiet and avoid attracting any attention to ourselves. If-" she licked her lips, "If we are quiet enough until that boat to Tahiti arrives in Saint Denis, no one will know where we ran off too. It's going to be really risky sneaking back into the city, I know that and maybe we should make noise a good way away from here..." She shrugged, "I don't know, Dutch. But don't be doing anything close. That's like screaming to everyone we're nearby."

Dutch looked irritated, "If we just-"

Celina shut him up with a look that could kill, "I mean it, Dutch. Nothing good is going to come out of this... and really, I didn't expect you to come up with something like this without Micah around. It's making me nervous, Dutch."

Dutch sighed and looked up to the sky, "I. Miss. Him."

Celina cringed a little and whispered under her breath so that Dutch couldn't hear her, "He's definately not up there."

Dutch pulled out a cigar and rolled it between his fingers, "I'll take into consideration your disapproval. You do have to remember, Miss Knoll that there is a reason this gang follows me, and all due respect, but not yourself."

Celina tilted her head to the side at his words, doing her best not to quip something smart back to him. It was hard sometimes for her to bite her tongue, however... She felt she had to at the moment. So, instead of getting mad, she grabbed his hand and gave him a small, sad smile, "I love you, Dutch. Please don't do anything stupid. Please try to trust me."

Dutch stared down into her eyes for a long moment and took a deep breath, "I love you too. You've got to understand though, I'm-" he took a deep breath, "I'm getting desperate here."

Celina was speechless for a second, not expecting those words to make their way out of his mouth- ever. She did her best to find a response that would comfort him, "It'll be ok, everything-" she looked around at the camp before back at him, "Everything will be ok." She put her hand on his chest, trailing her fingers over the silky fabric of his vest while staring up into his dark eyes. She wanted to kiss him, really wanted to kiss him.

Celina did just that, raising up on her tiptoes and placing her hand on the back of his neck, she leaned in, kissing him gently. Dutch kissed her back for a moment before pulling away, "Not now, we can't-" He gestured between the two of them, "I can't focus on us until we're through this whole mess."

Celina nodded and dropped back flat onto her feet, "I know. I just... It's been a while since I got to do that."

Dutch took a deep breath, "I know." His voice held slight disappointment, "It has been a while. But as soon as we're free, I am going to be the man you deserve." He lit his cigar, "Give you the life you deserve."

Celina tucked her lips in, savoring the taste of his, "Trelawny found out what brought me here."

Dutch raised a brow in interest, "Did he now? Well I've got to say, that man has a real knack for obtaining information that the rest of us can't seem to." He took her hand in his and began to lead her back in the direction of their tent, "Why don't you tell me about it?"

Bill sat outside by the fire in the same spot that Celina had left him to go and speak with Trelawny, still with his bottle in hand, drinking out of it slowly. He watched as Dutch stopped Celina from approaching him, so convenient. Bill grunted and stood to his feet, wanting to walk away but not being able to bring himself to do so as he watched Celina kiss Dutch and then head with him back to his tent.

The man took a deep breath and dropped the now empty bottle to the ground. Karen approached him with a small, half smile, "Are you gonna grow a pair and talk to her or not?"

Bill screwed up his face in annoyance and shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Karen rolled her eyes at the brute of a man and gestured discretely in the direction of Dutch's tent, "It's so obvious, Bill. The way you're always trying to keep her in your sight from what I see? Maybe you need to try letting her know how you feel."

Bill scoffed and uncorked the next bottle, "I don't feel like anything towards her. And it ain't none of your business."

Karen sighed and shook her head as Bill walked off. Sadie, seeing that she looked disappointed, approached her out of curiosity, "What's going on?"

Karen gestured to Bill who sat down on a crate by a tree a little ways away and out of earshot, "Bill likes Celina."

Sadie laughed, not because anything was funny, but because she was caught by surprise, "Bill likes Celina?" She kept her voice low so no one would overhear them.

Karen nodded and began picking up the empty bottles which the veteran had abandoned, "I'm trying to get him to let her know how he feels but he won't even admit it."

"Of course he won't," Sadie reasoned, "Why would he? Celina's with Dutch and I'm sure she doesn't feel the same way."

"You don't know that," Karen shrugged, "Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't know it yet."

Sadie raised a brow, "Really, Karen? Bill?"

"Well," Karen started, "You just don't know. Anyway, Celina seems like a good girl. I don't think she'd hurt him... could do him some good to talk about his feelings anyway."

"You know he won't." Sadie took a couple bottles from Karen, "I haven't known Bill long- haven't been with the gang long but he really don't seem like the talking sort."

"Yeah, I know that." Karen seemed a bit discouraged, "So I'm thinking maybe I'll just tell Celina myself."

Sadie rolled her eyes with a slight smile, "Of course you'll go looking for drama."

"Not drama, I'm just trying to help."

"I'm trying to help too by telling you to stay out of it, it will be better for everyone that way. If Bill wants her, he can tell her... but there's no way she's going to leave Dutch for him- or for anyone. It just ain't gonna happen." Sadie was obviously getting a little irritated at the drama Karen seemed to feel like she needed in her life, "Bringing this into the open is only going to make it worse for him.. if you're even right about how he feels."

At that, Sadie walked away and threw the bottles in the trash bin as she passed it. The need for drama and the lack of cleanliness were the only things which truly irked her around the camp. How hard was it really for someone to pick up after themselves? Her Jakey never had a problem with it..

...

"I still don't see why you can't just leave him alone." Celina grabbed Dutch's arm as he tried to make his way out to the horses. He had refused to listen to her about not killing Cornwall and she was frankly a little more than simply irritated regarding his decision, "Is this how it's going to be? You reverting to not listening to me?"

Dutch turned around to face her, doing his best not to get mad himself, "I've been living this life quite a bit longer than you. So, despite what you may think, I do happen to know when doing something is a necessity or not."

Celina let go of him and raked her hands through her hair to try to keep herself under control. He was being rediculous. Once again, Dutch was being utterly rediculous and she didn't like it, not one bit. She looked over at Arthur who had reluctantly agreed to go with Dutch as well as Sean, "Would you please try reasoning with him, Arthur?" She said this only after Dutch had put enough distance between the two of him that he likely wouldn't hear what was being said.

Arthur proceeded to mount his horse, not looking to happy about the current situation, "I tried." He sat up straight in his saddle and adjusted the reins, "I tried. I'm sorry but... He was going to do this whether anyone went with him or not."

Celina closed her eyes and nodded, "I know he was, you're... you're right."

She watched rather hopelessly as the three men rode out of camp, setting off towards Annesburg. She couldn't help but to be worried about Dutch, how could she not? Not only was she worried but she was actually mad at him always being hot and cold about listening to her and respecting her calls. She wasn't in charge of the gang, she knew that. She wasn't trying to be in charge, she was just trying to keep things from getting more complicated than they had to be.

She almost jumped when Hosea spoke to her, approaching from behind, "You've got your work cut out for you with that man."

Celina laughed humorlessly, "You're telling me." She shook her head and gestured in the direction they had taken off in, "I got him to agree to leave the natives alone at least. That's something."

Hosea looked confused, "Natives?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "The Indians. They haven't shown up here yet but they will soon and if things go how they have before, Dutch would take advantage of them and use them to draw attention away from us. Which is just... it's just wrong."

"Well of course it's wrong, no question about it," Hosea agreed, "At least that's something."

...

 ** **2018****

Aiden leaned on the locker beside Scotty, facing outwards towards the hall as everyone else made their way to their classes, "No man," he slammed his hand against the locker in anger, "I'm so sick of how everyone looks at me because of... because of history. I'm proud of my family, I think it's cool as heck that I'm related to the people I am. Sitting in class though, it's like..." he tugged at his hair, "I don't even know."

The corner of Scotty's mouth dipped down slightly and he pushed himself off the lockers, "Makes you feel like everyone looks at you like you're like them?"

Aiden took a deep breath, "Yeah, man. I mean, I'm not ashamed. They were good people... in the end. But still, I just want to be seen as who I am. With my dad.. it," he laughed, "I feel like everyone's waiting for me to be wanted by the law next. Waiting for me to be hauled off to jail... or prison."

"So do you think Mrs. Clouse will allow you to skip out on the essay that we're writing?"

"Heck no," Aiden began to trudge on to his next class with his friend by his side, "She won't excuse me from it. She wants to see what I'll have to say. As fascinated as she is with the gang she's got to be absolutely thrilled to have me in her class. She'll milk it for all its worth."

Scotty made a sound of agreement, "I guess that's true... well," he stood there for a moment before parting ways temporarily with his best friend, "Just write the best essay you can man. You if no one else knew they were outlaws- not criminals, they stood for something."

Aiden nodded, "Yea, I know that. I just," he sighed, "I just wish that everyone else knew that about them. I guess I can't expect everyone to research history like I do though. I'll see you in a bit man."

Aiden walked into the classroom and took a seat at his desk im graphic design class. To him it was the best class of the day, sure, it was supposed to be about graphic design but if he sat there and did nothing or screwed around on the computer the whole period, the teacher wouldn't do anything about it.

The essay he had to write for his American History class was going to have to be well thought out. He typed 'Van Der Linde gang' into the search bar on the internet. The task was to explain how they felt about the Van Der Linde gang and why. They had to not only write about the gang as a whole but had to write about two specific people and their role in the gang as well... Well, actually their role in history as a whole he supposed. They had to determine how they had effected history and use facts to determine what type of people they thought their two choosen outlaws were- not based on how the law saw it, but just how they think they were personality wise. It may have been a fun task, Aiden thought, if he didn't feel like people would make out his family to look like pieces of crap.

Who would be write about? Celina And Dutch most likely. He only felt it right that he should in attempt to defend them against anyone who spoke badly about them. He hated high school, hated it so much. He knew that he should just drop out, but Mr. O'Reily... He had practically promised him that he wouldn't do that. He liked his principal and he knew that Mr. O'Reily hadn't been doing too well health wise... the thought saddened him, he couldn't be letting the old man down.

He looked over as Anna sat next to him, he knew the girl liked him, it was obvious. She moved her chair a little closer to him, looking as if she didn't think he would notice. He smiled at her a bit, "How's your day going?"

Anna shrugged and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, studying him with her brown eyes, "Ok I guess. Ready for it to be over." She clicked her computer on, "What about you?"

Aiden shrugged back at her, "It's ok."

"You going to write about your great-great grandparents for American History?"

Aiden rolled his eyes, "Yes, I don't see why not."

She offered him a small but shy smile, "I didn't mean to make you mad, you know... I was just trying to make conversation."

"Then ask me what movies I like or what I did yesterday... what I'm doing tonight. Be different, would you try to? I'm sick of everyone looking at me and seeing the great-great grandson of Dutch Van Der Linde."

"Oh, I'm... sorry." She was quiet for a moment.

Aiden sighed, "No," he shook his head upon realizing that he had probably been a little too harsh on her, "I'm- I should be sorry." He opened up the Photoshop system on the computer and stared at the loading screen, "I should probably be nicer."

Anna bit her bottom lip lightly, "What did you do last night?"

The boy laughed, "Not crap.. Well, ok, stuff that I really wasn't supposed to be doing."

Anna looked at him with interest, "Like what?"

He shrugged, "Smoking pot and getting really freaking drunnkk. What else?"

Anna smiled and looked down at the desk, "I don't know. Your life is a lot more exciting than mine, that's for sure."

"Well, when your dad's in prison for doing dirty work for the mob.  
.. And your mom works a heck of a lot in attempt to make up for him being caught... what else is there really to you but to find a real good way to entertain yourself?" He looked over at her as if he expected her to actually answer his question.

In response, she stared at him quietly for a moment as she tried to think of what to say. It ended up not being anything interesting, "I can't even begin to imagine what I would do if I were in a situation like yours."

He took out a pack of gum and offered her a stick which she accepted, "Sometimes I don't know what to do with myself. Sometimes I think maybe I should just give in and become whatever people expect me to. Give them a good scare that I'm going to start my own gang some day." He laughed and stuck a piece of gum in his own mouth, "Who are you choosing to write your essay on?"

She tried to ignore his previous comment about giving in and following in the path of what everyone thought of him, "I don't know really, probably Sadie and Arthur? From what we've learned in class I think they would be interesting in writing about."

Aiden nodded, "That's the only reason I'm slightly interested in when we start doing these presentations... see who everyone picks to write about and why. I want to see what everyone thinks of the gang members, except Celina and Dutch obviously."

"Obviously," she blew a small bubble before popping it, "What are you going to do if they write some bad things though? I know it's your family... it would be hard even if you never knew them to hear them talked badly about."

He nodded, "We'll see."

...

 ** **1899****

Dutch had killed Cornwall, actually done it. Part of Celina hoped that he'd either change his mind on the way to Annesburg and come back or that Arthur would manage to talk him out of it but unfortunately there was no such luck and the man had been killed before he had even come off his boat.

Dutch returned with high spirits about the whole thing for the most part thinking he had done something good and that that was a crucial step to their freedom. Celina, seeing how excited he was about it, how much it had made his spirits soar, was nothing but irritated with him and had flat out told him that he needed to keep his distance from her for the rest of the night. She meant it too.

She meant it to the extreme that upon his return she had went and sat one of their few spare tents up and laid down in it alone when night came. Was she tired? Sure, but that didn't mean that she would go to sleep anytime soon.

She sat in her cott with a lantern beside her and pulled out the journal she had been writing in lately. She figured she might as well write in it, it seemed quite a few others were in the habit of writing from time to time. Heck, she had even witnessed Bill once writing and it warmed her heart to think that maybe if he managed not to lose the journals he wouldn't have such a hard time remembering in the future.

Still, she had made it clear to them whether they thought of it themselves or not to never, ever mention time travel ever in their writing. Knowing how advanced the future would be, even with the witches saying that the world couldn't handle time travel again, she feared that the consequences of people finding out it had happened before would be disastrous. Surely they would do everyhing in their power to figure out how to time travel themselves and who knew what that would cause?

As she sat upright on the cott, She stared at the blank page of her journal with her pen poised to write. The only problem was she had no idea what to write.

 _Dear journal,_

 _Dutch was being almost unbearably irrational today... He killed a man despite how I felt about it and then came back like he had found a pot of gold. That man? Well, his name was Leviticus Cornwall and he had apparently been funding the laws persuit of us._  
 _I just really hope that this don't come back to bite us and that we can make it out of here tomorrow or.. it may be the day after when the boat arrives to take us to Tahiti. I'm looking forward to it, a tropical paradise it will be, or I hope it will be..._

 _I feel like when we get there it won't be long before Dutch asks me to marry him. I mean, we haven't talked about it- marriage. It's just a feeling I have. He keeps going on about wanting to be the man I deserve. If you ask me, not killing Cornwall would have been a pretty good step in the right direction. Then, he is Dutch, so what can I really expect?_

Celina read over her journal entry once before sliding it and her pen under the cott and turning the lantern off, sitting it on the floor and then making herself as comfortable as possible in her bed. It was weird she thought to be sleeping without Dutch at her side, almost too weird.

She rolled onto her back and stared up at the fabric above her before giving up. She didn't want to sleep alone and she truthfully doubted that she would be able to. That realized, she forced herself to get back up and made her way across camp to to Dutch's tent.

Seeing the fabric door closed, she pushed the flap aside and walked in without a seconds hesitation to see Dutch laying in his bed and reading a book. He lowered the book and looked over at her when she came in, "Thought you weren't talking to me for the night?"

Celina rolled her eyes, "Turns out I wasn't talking to you just for the evening."

Dutch eyed her quietly for a moment, "So you're coming to bed?"

"If you'll have me."

He laughed and sat his book on the small table beside his bed and beckoned her to him, "Of course I'll have you, come over here."

She reluctantly complied, climbing into the bed as he scooted over to make room for her. She snuggled up against him as he wrapped his strong arms around her and she relaxed against him, content. She said nothing for a moment but just closed her eyes, enjoying feeling him against her, his thumb rubbing small circles on her abdomen.

It was Dutch who broke the silence, "I'm sorry about Cornwall.. not sorry about killing him but sorry that I upset you by not caring about your thoughts regarding what I did."

Celina nodded in acknowledgement but did not comment on the matter. Instead, she spoke of something entirely different, "When does the boat leave for Tahiti?"

"The day after tomorrow."

She was quiet for another moment, "You really vex me sometimes, Dutch."

Dutch chuckled, he knew that was the case, of course that had to be the case, "Is that so?"

Celina couldn't help but laugh back at him, he sounded so full of crap, "It is so." She gave his hand a gentle, affectionate squeeze, "It really is." She licked her lips, "And sometimes I really want to shove my boot where the sun don't shine. But, but, I think if you went too long without getting under my skin I just might start to worry about you."

...

A/N: There's today's chapter, kinda struggled to get a decent length out of this one but that's where Aiden helps out XD

Anyway, what do you think about Karen wanting to tell Celina about Bill's feelings? How do you think that will go?

And any thoughts about the 2018 bit? Do you guys like Aiden?

They're finally about to try to make a break for Tahiti in about two days! Hope you enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	45. Chapter 45

Charles approached Dutch with a look of dread written upon his face as the Native American had just rode into camp with no one other than the son of Rains Fall- Eagle Flies. Not only did he have a look of dread on his face, but he looked tired, so very tired, "Dutch," he started, interrupting Dutch and Celina's game of chess.

Dutch looked up from the table, "Well hello there, Charles." Dutch greeted him warmly before his gaze fell onto the young native boy standing beside him, "Who's your friend?"

"This is Eagle Flies, son of the great Chief Rains Fall." Charles sucked in a deep breath, "Arthur and I helped him before, acted as Mercenaries on his behalf."

Dutch stood up from his seat and shook the boys hand, "Dutch Van Der Linde, what brings you here?"

Eagle Flies began to explain, "This government, they've done us wrong to the point they've taken our horses on top of everything else they've put us through." Eagle Flies licked his lips and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "Without horses we can't hunt and without hunting we'll starve. There's not enough of us to go and reclaim them."

Dutch shook his head in empathy, at least Celina hoped it was true empathy, "Who exactly took them and where, son?"

"Colonel Favours, he took them up to Fort Wallace to the best of our knowledge." He looked hopeful as if he could feel like Dutch was interested in helping, "This is an act of war."

Dutch nodded in agreement and Celina stared at him worried, "I can see that." He then put his hand up, "That does not mean you take the bait, son. That never means you take the bait. You've got to do what's best for your people which is keeping them safe." Dutch glanced over at Charles who looked impressed and surprised at his words before making eye contact with Eagle Flies, "We will not be holed up here much longer but we would be more than happy to head out with you to round up some new horses for your tribe."

Celina finally released the breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding in that moment, relief washing over her at once. Eagle Flies stared at Dutch for a moment, his reaction obviously not being as expected, "Would you really not reclaim your own horses if you were in our shoes?"

Dutch shook his head slightly, "I'm afraid I can't say I wouldn't, but at this point it would not sit well with me to leave you and your people in a worse situation than what you've come to me in. So," he gestured to the camp's horses, "We have plenty, should we head out now?"

The boy hesitated for a moment but then nodded with a sigh, seeing that that was going to be the only help he got and that it was, after all, better than nothing, "Thank you, Mr. Van Der Linde."

Dutch chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder warmly, "You are welcome." He winked at Celina, seeing the smile on her face at his actions and then scanned the camp for the person he needed, "Arthur!" He yelled on his direction upon spotting him, "Ride with Charles, Eagle Flies and I, we have some horses to round up."

"Wait," Celina stood up as well as Arthur approached, "I want to go too. I've never done anything like this before, sounds fun."

Dutch cast her a look of concern, "Are you in shape to do so with your stomach?"

Celina waved him off without much of a concern, "It's already healed back together, it hurts, but it's healed. I want to come."

Dutch shook his head despite himself, "Why do I feel like I don't have much of a say in whether you do or don't?"

Celina smiled mischeviously at him and joined them in walkimg out to the horses, "Because you don't."

The leader simply chuckled at her answer but did not attempt to argue in the slightest with the adamant woman, over the last few months he had learned that doing that was nearly pointless, "Ok then, come along."

Celina smiled as she approached Bullet, scratching his neck in greeting and removing an apple from his saddle bag before giving him it and then climbing up onto his back, "You're a good boy, aren't you?" She ran her fingers through his mane feeling a twinge of disappointment at knowing she wouldn't be able to sneak him on the boat to Tahiti.

"Ok," Charles announced, "Let's go see if we can find some horses."

...

They rode for a decent amount of time before spotting a herd of about seven horses, mustangs from what Celina could tell, "Ok," Charles kept his voice low and looked over at Eagle Flies who was on one of the camp's few spare horses, "If each of us catch one I'm sure you can all use them to catch more, that'll be the goal for the day."

Eagle Flies nodded and on the count of three, the five of them rode forwards towards the herd, swinging their lassos over their heads to build momentum as they rode. Dutch was actually the first one to lasso a horse, a grulla stallion, he climbed off The Count and slowly approached the lassoed horse in attempt to calm it down. Arthur soon following his lead as he lassoed a horse himself.

Celina allowed herself to look back at him for a second as she chased the bay one she was after, seeing him manage to mount the untamed stallion. She laughed to herself never before thinking that she would see the day when Dutch Van Der Linde was caught breaking a wild horse.

The woman launched her lasso at the mare she continued to pursue but missed to her disappointment. It was even more disappointing on her end when Charles rode by her and lassoed it for her. She sighed, and slowed Bullet to a stop to watch Charles in action as he approached the horse and mounted it.

She looked back over at Dutch as well just in time to see the horse stop bucking him... so much and surrender some control to him. She shook her head when he gave her an amused smile and went back to watching Charles hang onto the mares mane to help keep his balance as she twisted and bucked.

As useless as she felt just sitting there and watching at that point, expecially as Eagle Flies rode up on the only paint of the herd, she was glad that she hadn't done something stupid once mounting a horse, it was clear the men around her definately had some experience.

Charles, upon obtaining control over the mare, hopped off of her and walked over to Celina's horse, tying the other end of the lasso to her saddle, "If you'll lead her back to the reservation with the rest of us, that would be helpful," he explained, "I'm going to go see if I can't catch one more."

Celina nodded, looking over the healthy seeming mare as she tossed her head in protest of being restrained, "I'm sorry, I can't lasso worth crap."

Charles shook his head, "No need to be sorry, this helps enough."

"If you say so." Celina turned Bullet around and headed back in the direction of Dutch and Eagle Flies who had decided to ride off a little ways, "Charles is catching another horse since I suck and couldn't catch my own."

Dutch laughed at her, "Don't be too hard on yourself, it's your first time."

Celina shrugged and assessed the horses Dutch, Arthur and Eagle Flies had tied to their saddles, "They're nice looking horses. Can tell the two of you didn't have any problems."

"Well I would hope not," Dutch patted The Count's neck in praise, "I've been doing this for years despite what everyone else may think. It seems to come as a surprise that ol'Dutch knows how to break a horse."

Celina nodded in agreement with a smirk on her face, she knew that he hadn't been wanting her to agree, "Well, it kinda is a surprise... you just don't seem like the type."

Dutch looked at her challengingly although there was a twinkle in his eye proving that he was playing with her, "What ever do you mean by that?"

"Oh..." she trailed off with a smirk, "I don't know." Eagle Flies looked between the two of them in amusement at their exchangement. Celina continued on toying with the leader, "Just... the way you dress... the way you look and act."

"Mmm hmm," Dutch narrowed his dark eyes at her, "Very funny, Miss Knoll, very funny." She could tell that he was trying not to laugh himself, it was so blatantly obvious, "I think you and I will be having a talk when we get back to camp."

Celina raised a brow suggestively in interest, "A talk? What kind of talk do you mean?"

Arthur groaned at the thought of what they were referring to by 'a talk' and Eagle Flies had obviously had enough of their flirtation, "There's Charles," he pointed to his friend as he approached them on a chestnut mare, drawing Celina and Dutch's attention to him.

Charles called out to them as he came closer, "Ok," he breathed, "Let's get these horses up to the res."

...

Rains Fall was such a gracious wonderful man, just how RDR2 had made him out to be and it pained Celina even more having met him to know what he and his people were going though- what they were subject to go through because of the American government for the rest of their lives. To be frank, it was sickening.

They hadn't stayed long and in the bit of time they had stayed, Rains Fall had been speaking to Arthur and Charles mostly about a meeting he had set up with Colonel Favours for later in that evening to discuss new grounds for a possible peace treaty.

Of course, Celina knew now that would go for the most part. Colonel Favours had no intention, absolutely no intention in negotiating peace with the natives as he tried to make it seem. Of course she hadn't mentioned anything about it.

That said, Charles and Arthur had made the decision to hang back and attend the meeting as a favor to the good chief. Celina and Dutch doubting that they were going to be needed, had made the decision to head back to camp after giving the tribe a warm goodbye.

Celina rode alongside Dutch, thinking about all he wanted to do before the boat came the next day, "It's evening as it is, we're not going to have time to blow up that bridge that you're wanting to, Dutch. I mean, with the boat coming in tomorrow, what's the point?"

"The point is," Dutch spoke as if the answer should be obvious to everyone, "We blow up the bridge tomorrow morning and the law will never expect for us to be leaving from the area we're actually holed up in. The last thing they'll expect is for us to be heading into Saint Denis."

Celina thought about it for a moment and tried to make sense of his logic, "If we had more time before the boat would come it may make sense... if we were staying where we currently are for a few more days... but we're not. And trust me, as it is now, no one will be expecting us to show up in Saint Denis."

Dutch shook his head, "I'm not sure about that."

She took a deep breath, "Dutch, have you hit your head?"

Dutch looked at her in annoyance, "No, I haven't hit my head, are you implying something?"

"Well... yeah. I am, cause you're not making any sense. Think rationally and let's get the heck out of here."

...

"First you want to blow up a bridge so that no one thinks we're anywhere near Saint Denis and then you want to actually show up in Saint Denis to see that Colm O'Driscoll is hung?" Celina drug her hand over her face in exasperation, "Just hang tight for one more day, Dutch and we can leave this whole country and Colm behind us."

Dutch set his jaw and stared straight ahead, "We will be in disguise."

Sadie nodded, "Real quiet like. I need to see Colm hang, after what those damn O'Driscolls did to my Jakey."

Arthur took a deep breath, starring into the campfire from where he sat on a log next to Sadie holding her hand, "I understand that both of you have your reasons for wanting to see him hang, but-" Arthur shrugged, "I have to agree with Celina on this one, "If we're trying to escape out of Saint Denis the last thing we need is for something to go wrong and cause attention to be drawn to ourselves down there all over again. If we do, we'll never make it onto that boat."

Sadie huffed and Dutch did not look pleased at all. Celina dared to speak through the tension, "So can we please let this slide and just board the damn boat like we were planning to before? Except the bridge, forget the bridge."

Dutch chewed on his bottom lip, Celina could tell that he was trying to keep himself from saying somethimg stupid by doing so. Still, even then, it didn't seem to work too well, "I have a plan."

"I know that you have a plan, Dutch, you always have a plan." Celina rolled her eyes at him, "Question you should be asking yourself is whether or not your plan is actually a good one." She knew she was making him mad by what she was saying but at the current point, she really couldn't bring herself to care all that much.

"The question I should be asking? Is it a good one?" Dutch stood to his feet, his blood pressure quickly rising in anger and making his face go red.

"Now, Dutch," Arthur stood to his feet as well, "Please," he tried to reason, "She shouldn't have put it like that but just think about this for a good minute, sleep on it. I mean," he laughed shortly, "We leave tomorrow. Let's not risk losing our chance to escape over Colm O'Driscoll. That's what he would want, you know that, for us to miss our passage out of here."

Dutch shook his head and forced himself to walk away, leaving Sadie, Arthur and Celina by themselves to stare after him. Celina groaned at the way that conversation had went and made eye contact with Sadie, "Sadie, you and Dutch obviously want to see Colm hang more than anyone else. I'm telling you that this isn't a good idea." Celina held her gaze, "Please talk to him and try to get him to change his mind about this. You may be the only one who can.. if we're spotted in the city then there's no way we're going to get onto that boat. We may as well say goodbye to any chance of escaping to Tahiti."

Sadie crossed her arms across her chest and looked guarded as to what Celina was saying but didn't attempt to interrupt, "I understand your reason for wanting to see Colm hang... I do. That had to be absolutely awful to lose the man you love. You know though that killing Colm is never going to bring back your husband. You're a smart woman, Sadie. You are, and Dutch, he's a smart man but this revenge game you're trying to play... it's not going to work, not now. Please don't choose it over our freedom. If we don't leave now," Celina shook her head, "When will we? How many more people are going to die by the hands of the law? You know they're going to end up closing in on us, they will if we don't get out of here."

Sadie looked over to Arthur who showed no sign of disagreeing with anything Celina had to say in the slightest and she sighed, "I'll-" Sadie wanted to see Colm hang, she really did, for what had happened to Jake. She didn't really care what happened to herself, not after losing him, Sadie Adler was ok with dying at any moment since it would mean that she'd be with Jakey again. Even with that though, she didn't feel like she could in in good conscious risk the freedom and lives of people who were friends to her... including Arthur who was more in order to see Colm die. It wasn't right and unfortunately, being the a woman who cared about right and wrong when it came to peoole she cared about... felt as if she had to do what she deemed as right despite her own feelings of pure hatred towards Colm O'Driscoll.

So, at that, no matter how much it made her blood boil to think about possibly letting Colm go free, she nodded. "Ok," she released a long sigh, "Fine, I'll try to talk to him about it."

Celina felt she could breathe again at that and wondered for a moment how the amount of stress Dutch caused her hadn't already started giving her grey hair. She nodded her thanks, "Thank you, I really appreciate it... all of us do."

"You're welcome." Sadie stood up then and walked away in the direction Dutch had went.

"Well," Arthur said once left alone with Celina, "That could have went worse."

Celina took a slow, deep breath and exhaled slowly as well in attempt to calm herself down, "Yea, could have went worse." She cracked her knuckles and stood up as well, "I think I'm going to go hunting in the morning, make sure we all got good, full bellies and some food packed away for the trip."

Arthur nodded, "That's a good idea, making sure we have food to eat. We've all seen how your temper is when you're hungry."

Celina let herself laugh at that and gave a small shrug, "Just one of those things."

Arthur chuckled deeply at her use of his usual excuse, "I see what you did there."

"Oh, did you now?"

Arthur nodded, "Certainly did."

"Dutch Van Der Linde! Show yourself with your hands up or we will start shooting." Celina felt her heart sink past her stomach and to the mud beneath her boots when she looked over in the direction of the voice and saw agent Milton along with his even worse half, "Dutch Van Der Linde, I've come with an army to take you away. Step out of cover and no one will be hurt."

Celina and Arthur both tensed, ready to jump behind cover at any moment. Without doubt a fight was going to go down and a lot of people were going to lose their lives. Celina just hoped and prayed that no one in the gang would be killed.

Dutch's voice could be heard as he shouted from wherever he was. He of course wasn't going to come out of cover, he was too smart for that, "Agent Milton, I suggest you turn around and leave, as of tomorrow we will be out of this country permanately never to return. It would be senseless to have your men to lay down their lives in attempt to bring me to justice."

Milton was obviously trying to pinpoint where Dutch's voice was coming from, "If you surrender then your gang can have three days to flee from the country. If there here after that, they're ours as well. I'm afraid that's the best we can do."

"Then I'm afraid, Mr. Milton, that we are going to have to," his next word was a cue to the gang, "Fight!"

At that word everyone immediately took cover, outlaws and law and the shooting began. Celina took cover behind one of the supply wagons with Arthur, them shooting from either side of it. She called over to him, "Looks like we didn't get out of here in time." She couldn't help to, as she fired at the law, think about the game and that in the game, this would be close enough in time to the final time Arthur fought on the side of the gang before fleeing with John and pretty much being killed by the hands of Micah..

Arthur gave a short, sarcastic laugh at her comment between shots, "You don't say."

There were a lot, and Celina meant a lot of law filing into the camp at a rapid pace, the gang doing their best to keep them from advancing too close to them but it was almost impossible. They just kept coming closer and closer, pushing up to a point that had the gang moving back. Celina felt tears prick at her eyes. Maybe this was it, maybe because she had changed things, everyone was going to get killed even earlier than they would have been had she done nothing.

She could just barely hear Dutch shout above the gunfire that they needed to move back into the caves. For once, she thought that his plan sounded like a good one and at once, she and Arthur turned around and made a break for the cave, hoping above anything else that they all made it out alive.

The gang ran through the cave quickly, not looking back unless it was to fire off a shot at the law. As much as they cared for one another, in that moment it was about getting themselves out of there alive. Then after, and only after would they stop to worry about where anyone else was.

The dash through the cave was intense to say the least, bullets bouncing off of the caves walls and nearly flying into people, several of the gang taking cover for a moment and shooting down some of the law. Celina fought against her natural amount of stamina as she pushed on, refusing to slow down. To slow down, to let the law catch up would mean death, she couldn't help but look back though at the sound of a scream and see Molly O'Shea shot down to the ground. As dark as the thought was, she couldn't help but feel relief at the fact that it was she who had been shot and no one else... not to her knowledge at least.

Celina focused her gaze on Dutch as he ran up ahead, motioning to the left and then to the right as he instructed them to split up how they deemed appropriate, yelling to them all about meeting up in the second place they had been camped out at after making it out of the Grizzlies. Of course he wouldn't say the old camp near Valentine, no, that would be much to obvious to any law who could possibly overhear. As it was, they were filling into the tunnels themselves.

Celina, not daring to split away from Dutch and take the chance of something happening to him, she split off from the others in the same direction he did. Really, they didn't have a choice but to split up, not with the amount of law that was currently on their tail, they had to thin them out somehow.

The way Dutch had broke off to was the left with Bill, Javier, Hosea, Karen and Mary Beth. The others either broke off to the right or went straight. Hopefully the plan would work, hopefully the law would split up to the point that they were manageable for every one of the three smaller grouos.

Celina gasped for breath as she ran, the light at the end of the cave giving her hope that maybe, just maybe she would be able to make it to her horse before she found that she just couldn't run anymore. It was very clear to her at that point that as soon as they were again free from the law, she would have to start working out at least somewhat, just incase she found herself in a situation like the present in the future. Really, it was terrible.

With seat rolling down her face like nobody's business, she broke out into the open from the exit of the cave and mounted Bullet who was waiting for her like the loyal horse he was, as was everyone else's horses waiting for them.

"Ok," Dutch panted as he climbed onto the back of the count, sounding pretty out of shape himself which Ceiina guessed was probably due to all the smoking he did, "Let's shake these law men and get back to the rest of the gang. How I hope they are all ok."

No one argued. And as it seemed, everyone was too busy catching their breath from one of the runs of their lives to be bothered to do anything but ride off with Dutch as he led them away from their compromised camp as quickly as possible.

...

A/N: Ok guys, thoughts on this chapter? Too tired to type out proper A/N but I'm going to post this anyway. Hope you enjoyed!

Oh, and there's been several people, mostly on now asking me if they have permission to make fan art for this story, the answer is a solid yes! I'd love that :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	46. Chapter 46

"We left the money behind again! That place is going to be on lockdown, we'll never get back there before the boat leaves to Tahiti." John paced back and forth as the last of the gang came riding up, "We never get anywhere." He sighed, exasperated, "That's all we ever do, Dutch! Flee, bring in a good amount of money, get caught, flee again and leave the money behind. We never have time to grab the money, it's an endless, vicious cycle and I'm done with it!"

Bill immediately took offense to John's words, his face screwing up as he practically spit at him, "Have some faith, we're going to figure this out." He stood leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest and staring at John.

"Thank you, Bill." Dutch nodded his thanks at him before putting a hand on John's shoulder, "We are going to be ok, son. This is just a set back. As soon as the law calms down we'll go back and get that money. Then we can catch another boat, I don't know when but there has got to be another boat going out to Tahiti sooner or later. Hell, we may be able to finally get that money from Blackwater by now if we're real careful too."

"It ain't about the money, Dutch." John pulled away from him and stared back at him challengingly, "How much longer are we going to be running now? Hmm? We're always getting money, until we can get that money back we'll keep stealing more to get by and all the while, the law keeps growing and growing. We can't live like this anymore, Dutch. It's getting too late. we're losing time we don't have."

"I know son, I know." Dutch took a deep breath, "Look," He turned to the gang and gestured to everyone, "We're ok. We're all ok. We stay here for a few days and then we go back for that money and we're out of here. At this point it don't matter where we go as long as we leave."

Celina stepped forward and placed her hand on Dutch's arm, he was getting too worked up, that much was obvious. They had rode practically all night to flee the law and tension amongst everyone was high, obviously for good reason. She addressed the gang, "All that is going to happen tonight with what we just went through and the fact that we are all in desperate need of sleep is nothing good. Let's not make any big decisions until morning."

Arthur nodded but did not look too convinced that everything would truly be alright. Given the fact that the people there knew him pretty well, his attempt to seem convinced... well, wasn't convincing, "I agree. We'll look at this from a new perspective in the morning."

Dutch looked around at everyone only for his brow to furrow, "Where's Molly?"

Celina took a deep breath and did her best to show some empathy even though the loss of Molly was no loss to herself, "She got shot, Dutch, back in the cave. The law, they took her out."

Sorrow crossed his face but he tried not to show it all too much. He just nodded instead and slowly exhaled, "Well, that is unfortunate. I know not all of you liked her all too much, but she really could be a good woman."

"Of course she could be, Dutch." Arthur spoke up, "I'm sorry to hear about her death." He shook his head a it sunk in, "She was young, too young."

John huffed, "Ok then, I guess we'll just go to sleep, not like we may be shot in our sleep if the law managed to track us down out here. You know they would do that at this point. How many law men we killed. This isn't going to end good." John walked over to Jack and Abbigail and put his arm around his woman whom he had admitted before that he was not always faithful to, "Looks like we're really sleeping in the dirt tonight. Didn't even get the chance to bring a thing with us. This is great, Dutch, This is just great."

Celina had had enough of John talking like their unfortunate situation was all Dutch's fault to the point that she couldn't keep herself from saying something back to him, "You can shut up, John. This ain't all Dutch's fault, how could it be? Things like this happen in the life we've all chosen to live. Dutch? He's in this with us, so before you go pointing fingers at him and saying- acting like it's his fault, why don't you asses things that you could have suggested we do differently. I can guarantee you that everything that has happened in the past few days, you jus followed and didn't even try to help plan anything out. So, shut up."

Her rant had apparently surprised everyone else in the gang as they are stared silently at the scene that had unfolded before them. Celina made eye contact with several of them, not addressing them particularly but everyone as a whole, "Do any of you have anything to say? If you do, you best speak up now. I'm tired of all of you following silently as if there's no question about the plan but then when things go down, you blame Dutch immediately or whoever was involved in the plan. If you don't try to step up and help, then you have no business judging and complaining when things go wrong." She could feel that her blood pressure had risen quite a bit as she spoke, getting more and more ticked off at the fact that what she had just called out was so true for quite a few members of the gang. "All of you, if you think that you can make it on your own, think you can survive and do better without Dutch and the gang then I don't give a crap if you leave. Go, be my guest."

Dutch stared at her in just as much surprise as everyone else. It was rare to see Celina as angry as she was in that moment but when she got to that point, she was willing to speak her mind no matter if it hurt people's feelings or not. Dutch cleared his throat after her rand was over and she walked away from the rest of them likely to take a breather and try to calm herself down, "All of you know that if you want to leave I am not going to make you stay. But I would greatly hate to see any of you leave. We are family, we've got to stick together through this and we will come out on top. Miss Knoll, she is upset, clearly, she just needs some time to calm down. We all need time to calm down." He gestured in the way they had come, "That back there, that was a lot. It was a lot of nothing good, we lost Molly and we are lucky we did not lose more. We could." His voice raised somewhat, "We could always lose more which is why we've got to stick together and when the time comes, we fight back." He took a deep breath, "All I ask is that everyone please, eve if you've made the decision to leave after all of this, stay at least for the night. We all need sleep and odds are in small numbers, it just may not be safe out there."

Everyone listened as Dutch spoke, he and Celina's speeches getting different, mostly quiet reactions from everyone. When Dutch walked away to make his way over to Celina who was sitting on the ground off a bit away, Arthur caught up with him, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Dutch immediately nodded, "Of course son. Always, what is it?"

"I-" Arthur started and then stopped himself as if unsure of how to say what it was that he waned to say, "This is a real bad situation, Dutch.. I know that, you know that." Arthur scoffed and threw his hand to the air, "Everyone knows that. We've got to get out west, Dutch we have to. There's no way that we're getting on a boat and leaving here, not out of Saint Denis, not out of New York.. this whole country is going to be on lockdown to find us after this mess we've made in this year alone." He whined a bit, "West is our only hope, if we can even make it out there. This world, it's changing and too fast. We- we're not wanted anymore and it's going to be a bit before people start forgetting about us. What I say," He sounded uncomfortable but not uncertain, "I say we start heading west tomorrow, make a break for the money in Blackwater... just a few of us, nothing too noticeable. That area should be calmed down enough that some of us who don't have too big a bounty on our heads should be able to sneak in. We forget about the money up near Annesburg. We cannot afford to go back that way."

Arthur licked his lips before continuing "I would like to think that once we make it a good bit past Blackwater we will be in good shape. We just need that money and then we can get ourselves a real nice patch of land, do that farming thing all of us. We need to get away from living like this, Dutch, it's not working. Not no more." Dutch tried to say something but knowing what he was going to say, Arthur didn't give him the chance to say it, "I'm not saying that we live a civilized life, Dutch. Not at all. I'm just saying that we need to live a quiet one. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do small jobs from time to time." He raised his hand, "That should be fine, but we have go to be quiet about it. We've go to be."

Dutch, despite himself, found himself nodding in reluctant agreement with Arthur, "I know, son. I know." He took a deep breath and released it slowly, looking over at Celina who had laid her jacket on the ground and curled up on it in attempt to go to sleep. As far as he knew she was to far away to make out what they were saying, "We..." He huffed, "We were so close. The boat was supposed to come tomorrow and all of this was supposed to be behind us."

Arthur nodded, "I know, Dutch. I know. But we're bad people, we've done some really, really bad things. Maybe there is a God.." He looked up to the sky and shook his head, "I don't know but it just feels like we're being punished." He knew that what he had to tell Dutch next was going to make him mad if none of the other things he had just said did, "This trip, out west... it's going to be hard and it's going to be risky. I ain't going to lie." Dutch nodded in agreement again, "So, I think we have to consider who we're dragging along with us."

Dutch shot a quizzical look at him, "What are you talking about?"

Arthur counted out on his fingers, "John, Abbigail and Jack. We need to let them go Dutch, they can live a civilized life. It ain't fair to be raising Jack in the middle of all of this when it's no choice of his own. We need to cut them lose. Give them some of the-"

Dutch cut him off then, holding a hand up to stop him, "You're serious about this? Let them go?"  
He sounded hurt, almost offended.

Arthur nodded, not budging on his statement, "Yes, I'm sure, think about it Dutch, dragging a young family across he country in an ATTEMPT to escape from the law?" Arthur shook his head, ""I'm sorry but it's just not practical. Their safety is too much of a concern to put them through that. I'm afraid I have to insist."

"Insist?" Dutch stared at him for a moment as if he had grown three heads."

"Yes," Arthur sighed, not breaking eye contact with him but holding it rather firmly, "I insist."

Dutch chuckled and took a step back, his eyes assessing the man that he thought of as a son, "Ok," He relented, "Whatever you think is best. Have it your way, Arthur."

Arthur felt his heart sink a bit at the tone of voice Dutch used, it worried him, hearing him spit the words at him the way that he did. What if... what if Celina was wrong? What if Micah wasn't Dutch's biggest problem at all? What if his biggest problem was himself? What if he was just changing.. naturally? Becoming more of the person he was always meant to be? Arthur reached out to Dutch, "Look, please, just listen to me if you would, ok? I didn't mean to make you feel like-"

"Oh," Dutch raised a brow at him, "You didn't make me feel like anything. I understand that you feel like you have to look after this gang when you can't trust ol' Dutch to make the right calls."

The younger of the two men shook his head in denial, "It ain't like that."

"Ok," Dutch spoke in a dismissive tone towards him, "Whatever you say." He spread his arms wide, "Whatever you say. But I need to get some sleep, boss. We have a long day ahead."

...

Celina woke up, back stiff from sleeping on the cold, hard ground all night, well, at least for the rest of the night. When she opened her eyes at the crack of dawn as usual, she saw that Dutch was already up and conversing with Hosea, Bill and Arthur. She yawned and stood to her feet before picking her jacket up off the ground and slipping it back on as she made her way over to them, "We planning the trip?" She came to stand between Arthur and Bill, looking at Dutch to answer her question.

Dutch nodded, trailing his hand over the map that they had laid across the rock in the middle of them as he tries to figure out the best route to take, "That would be what we're doing as you can see. Just trying to figure some details out is all at this point."

Celina looked at the map herself, thinking that the poor item which was typically tucked away in Hosea's bag had seen better days, "What kind of details? Is there a certain way you want to take?"

Dutch shot her a look of annoyance, "If there was a certain way we wanted to take then why exactly would we be standing here, mulling over a map?  
How many details could there be exactly? Wouldn't one think details of where to sleep.. where to hunt?" His tone was short and filled with annoyance to match the current look on his face, Celina kind of slunk back at that, he having made her feel stupid for even asking let alone walking up to them.

That immediately added tension to the air around them as no one knew what to say or how to react. But Bill, Bill, well, he wasn't having any of it, "Why don't you try being nice to her, Dutch? She don't need you talking to her like that."

That only made the tension worse and Celina looked over at Bill in surprise as did everyone else at his sudden outburst. Dutch stared at him in silence like he couldn't believe what he had just heard, "What did you just say to me?"

Celina looked over at Bill nervously, "Just let it slide, it's fine, Bill." She touched his arm lightly, "I don't know why he's being like this." She kept her voice at the quietest whisper possible, hoping that t wouldn't make it to Dutch's ears.

Bill didn't listen to her, of course he didn't listen feeling like he had to be the tough guy, "I said that you should be nicer to her."

"Oh," Dutch acted like being spoken to as he had been was unthinkable, "I should, should I?"

"Dutch, just let it go. There's no need to start a fight over this." Arthur sounded both tired and concerned, "Celina was only asking a question, there was no need to snap, I know we're all under a lot of stress. I'm sure he didn't mean to-"

Dutch basically let Arthur's words go in one ear and out the other, "My problem now is with Bill." He stepped around Hosea and Celina who watched worriedly as Dutch approached the veteran, Dutch shaking Hosea's hand off him when he grabbed his arm in attempt to stop him.

Celina moved closer to Bill as Dutch approached, "This is stupid, Dutch. It was just a comment, he thought you hurt my feelings, let it go."

Dutch stared down at her, his eyes holding nothing but anger, "Are you going to defend him now?" Dutch scoffed, "Miss Knoll, move out of the way. Please."

Celina refused for a second but Hosea reached out and pulled to towards him and out of the way, "It's better to just move out of the way dear." He explained as he watched the two men worriedly as well. Arthur just looked disbelieving as to what was going on, not trying to break it up yet unless things got too out of hand. Without doubt a lot of the others were probably watching as well but Celina didn't care to pay attention to them at the moment.

Dutch stepped closer to Bill, challenging him, "What makes you think that it's your place to tell me how I should and should not act? I did not lay a hand on her nor try to hurt her in any other way and there you are at the slightest sign she got her feelings hurt, ready to defend her. Is there something I'm missing here? Is there something you want to tell me? Because this, this ain't like you, Bill. So tell me, what's this about?"

Celina closed her eyes tightly and looked at Hosea, "Are they serious right now, really?"

Hosea shook his head, "It definitely seems that way, dear. I don't know what got into Dutch this morning and last night but he has definitely had a dramatic change in attitude." Arthur sighed and shook his head, walking off a little ways away to avoid being aught up in whatever was going on between Bill and Dutch. Celina and Hosea followed him upon his request and listened as he described the conversation he had had with Dutch the night before.

As for Bill and Dutch, Bill puffed his chest outa bit, "There isn't nothing I want to tell you. Nothing to know. Didn't say you hurt her, you just shouldn't talk that way to a woman is all."

Dutch chuckled sarcastically, almost in a menacing way, "Bill Williamson telling me how I should be treating a woman." His voice rose an octave or two and cracked, "I never thought I would see the day!"

Bill's voice whined a bit, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh Bill," Dutch scoffed, "Really? Really?! Coming from the man who was telling me that he was worried about his future possibly being leading a gang of murderers and rapists? Tell me Bill, how should I take any advice on how to treat a woman when you're capable of that?"

Bill was so taken aback at Dutch's words that he actually physically took a step back as if Dutch had landed a blow on him. Then, he swung his fist at Dutch's face, easily knocking the leader off his feet, "You don't know shit!" Bill spat down at him, "I ain't gonna do something like that, I wouldn't."

Celina, Arthur and Hosea immediately turned back in Bill and Dutch's direction upon hearing the impact followed by the words that Dutch had so unkindly thrown in the veterans face. The three of them immediately started in their direction but didn't get there before Dutch grabbed hold of Bill's leg and pulled him to the ground with him, the two of them rolling about as they threw punches at one another. Celina shouted at the two of them as she ran ahead of Arthur and Hosea who were also shouting, "Dutch! Bill! Stop it, stop it now! You two are acting like idiots and one of you are going to get hurt."

Neither one of them even attempted to stop fighting with the other and of course neither Hosea or Celina could throw themselves in the middle of it. However, Arthur could, so Arthur did, fussing as he separated the two of them from each other, a couple punches landing on him in the process, "That's enough, the two of you are done. Done."

The two men panted to catch their breath as they each reluctantly gave up getting past Arthur and Javier as well who rushed to the scene to help. Hosea looked at the two of them in both annoyance and disappointment, "Get yourselves together, it's time we get out of here if we're ever going to leave." He shook his head and walked away, "Can't believe the two of you, especially you, Dutch."

Celina, herself stood there for a moment and stared at Dutch with a look of such disapproval that she hoped it meant something to him, "That was so uncalled for." She shook her head, "You know, you can do yourself a favor and stay away from me, I just can't talk to you right now, Dutch. And what you said to Bill?" She tilted her head to the side slightly as she tried to comprehend how he would ever think it was ok to say something like that to him, "That's inexcusable."

Dutch glared back at her, wanting to say something, wanting to say something so bad but Arthur interrupted him from being about to say it, "Common, Dutch," He put his hand on his back and led him away from Celina and Bill, "Just walk it off, I'm sorry for what I said last night, I was worried and..."

Celina stopped listening to whatever it was the two of them were saying to each other as they walked off and turned her attention to Bill, the look on her face softening somewhat as she relaxed, "Thank you, you really didn't have to do that, he hardly ever gets to the point he talks degradingly to me.. when he does it's because of something else." She waved it off without concern, "But I appreciate it and what he said to you.." She shook her head at what she had heard leave Dutch's mouth, "There is no way you deserved that. That future, it ain't going to happen. He's just mad... I doubt he really meant it. I know that doesn't make it any easier to hear right now though."

"No, it don't." Bill looked her up and down in thought, "I- well... I never thought." He hesitated as he thought of what it was he wanted to say, "I never thought Dutch would do anything like that. And how he talked to you? I don't care, it ain't right."

Celina smiled appreciatively at him but couldn't help but to think that she had heard him talking rougher to the other women around camp than what Dutch had talked to her. She thought that that was a bit weird, for him to defend her so quickly and especially to Dutch when he could act the same way himself only to the other women. Maybe... was Dutch right? Did Bill like... was there something going on with Bill that not even Celina was aware of? Her memories of him being exceptionally kind to her came to mind immediately, walking her to the motel in Saint Denis... saving her life and opening up to her and now this? No, surely not, he... did Bill have feelings for her? The feelings that a man has for a woman? She forced herself to snap out of her thoughts knowing that she had already probably been quiet for too long for it to be considered normal, "I know." She breathed, "I never expected him to say something like that to you either. As far as how he talks to me though, it's ok Bill, really, it hardly happens ever. Abd when it does," She laughed, "I can stick up for myself just fine. I do actually, I have to in order to be with Dutch."

...

A/N: A heck of a lot of drama in tis chapter, lol. I figured it was finally time for a hint of Bill's feelings to come out towards Celina and I couldn't think of a better or 'more Bill' way to have them come out than for him to stick up for her and almost reveal them himself without thinking.

Arthur insisted that Dutch let John's family go...

And Dutch threw the Williamson gang in Bill's face...

I don't think I've written a more dramatic chapter XD

Anyway, will you guys please comment any thoughts on this chapter and what you think will- or want to happen next? I'm always interested!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	47. Epilogue

Needless to say, tensions amongst the gang had been high for the last few days as they all headed off west. No one had left the gang so far although that didn't mean that anyone was exactly happy about the fact that the plan had failed yet again. It was repetitive seeming and it was tiring. John, well... John hadn't been wrong about how their luck seemed to continually repeat itself... get money, get ready to leave, lose money and have to start the process all over again. With the way the world was changing, every time they pulled a heist it was only getting more and more dangerous.

Everyone seemed to stay hungry as they traveled, hungry and tired due to the fact they hardly stopped to sleep for fear of the law catching up to them before they made it out of the more civilized parts of the country and away from the towns. They had to go as far west, as far out in the middle of nowhere that they could before they could finally be at peace when stopping. So far, they really weren't far enough west of Blackwater to feel safe. Getting the money back from Blackwater had luckily been a success. In fact, Charles and Sadie had only recently returned to the group with the money, Dutch claiming that it was enough to settle themselves down and more. Celina sure hoped so and she sure hoped that nothing happened that they would have to start pulling heists again. They couldn't attract attention to themselves, they just couldn't do it. Having the Blackwater money in their possession once again helped to lift the spirits of the gang somewhat although John seemed to not even care at that point.

Celina chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully as she stared ahead at John who was riding just a bit in front of her. It was rough, seeing people lose their faith in Dutch, lose their faith even when they had the money they needed right in their grasp. Bill, well, he had been pretty quiet for himself during the trip so far, not caring to pay Dutch much attention or to jump to his defense when someone questioned him. It had hurt Bill, Celina knew, when Dutch had said what he had about him, thrown the Williamson gang in his face like he had as if it was set to happen. Celina looked over at Bill who rode alongside Javier, what was the future really going to be like for them, or any of them for that matter? It was unclear, painfully unclear as to what waited for them ahead.

Trelawny, actually had departed from them yet again, as he always did. He had left the next morning after fleeing the law after Beaver Hollow. It was better that way, Celina thought, that he leave when he did and go off to the woman he was set to remarry. She was happy for him, truly that he was going to be out of this mess hopefully permanently. She cared for the magician, as a friend would and to have him out of harms way that she knew of was like a gift to her, to know that he was safe... at least until he got his own self into trouble with his schemes which he was most certainly going to do.

Celina stared slowed her horse to a halt as she stared over the ridge they were currently traveling across. The sun was setting, the orange and yellow hues it caused glowing brilliantly against the darkening sky. Staring at it as she faced the west, their ultimate destination it seemed, she felt a shred of hope spark back in her heart. Maybe they would make it.. maybe, just maybe, they would all get a shot at a new life.

...

A/N: End of Book One...

I've decided to make the next update begin a new book of it's own, the second book will be called 'On The Horizon' and a substantial amount of time will be skipped over but I will of course cover what had taken place during the skipped time. Hopefully the next book will be up within the next few days... or maybe tonight XD who knows, depends on how I feel lol.

In the mean time, leave me some comments on this book if you would? And let me know what you would like to see in the next update/ second book lol. My guess is that there will be quite a bit of time skips and I need to take a little bit and refresh on the first game. After writing this and playing RDR2, there's no way I can turn Javier into the law or kill Bill lol, it's going to be YouTube videos for me XD

Hope everyone enjoyed this book (I would think you did since you've read to this point) and I am looking forward to presenting you with the next one and covering how the Williamson gang is going to come to be... could very well be some deaths, guys so brace yourselves but where I am going with this book, it has got to happen... bear with me and I hope none of you will stop reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.


	48. Chapter 48

The sequel, 'On The Horizon' is now published!


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